Five Minutes
by AngeliChemicals
Summary: When a trip they thought would be quick, a X.A.N.A-fied William steps in to get Ulrich to join X.A.N.A...or forces him to through unimaginable pain. As hopeless as the fight to save Ulrich seems, Odd will do anything to get his best friend back before it's too late. Rated "T" for language, violence, and OddXUlrich.
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N) People have been getting upset over the fact they read this then find out it's OddXUlrich yaoi. Don't get upset with me please it says in the summary that this is an OddXUlrich yaoi Fanfiction. If you don't like Yaoi then please don't read it. Thank you! :)**

* * *

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter One - X.A.N.A's Recruiting **

"JEREMY! DE-VIRTUALIZE ME NOW!"

The strained cries coming from Ulrich Stern filled the virtual world of Lyoko. He was pinned against a stone wall, being lifted up by his hands, as he was stretched across the wall. It was no virtual monster or specter doing the levitation…it was William. Being controlled by X.A.N.A, William was given the orders to recruit another Lyoko warrior for X.A.N.A's use. Although the normal process of possession was difficult because of the high rank Ulrich has and the resistance he had built toward X.A.N.A's possession. William then had to find another method of possessing Ulrich…which weren't too pleasant…some may even say it involved excruciating pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH UUGGHHHHHHH" Ulrich again cried out.

"Haha don't worry it'll all be over soon and you'll be just like me." William teased while grinning.

"Ulrich for some reason I can't de-virtualize you…the others are on the way. Just hang on. Odd, Yumi, Aelita, I can't seem to understand what's going on with Ulrich, but I know it has to be bad so go to him NOW and help!"" Jeremy demanded the others.

Yumi and Odd were in the process of eliminating some krabs while Aelita was flying around trying to look for Ulrich.

"Do you see him Aelita?!" Yelled a concerned Yumi.

"No, but I see a bright lightning looking light. Over there!" Aelita pointed to a stone wall not too far from where they were.

"Okay last krab gone! Let's go find Ulrich." Odd said as he snapped his fingers.

"Here Odd…one hover board. Girls I can't virtualize the other vehicles at the moment so Aelita'll have to fly Yumi over." Explained Jeremy.

"Alright here we come Ulrich." Yumi said.

"Wait for us buddy." Odd added.

As the other started nearing to the stone wall, they could here the cries of Ulrich that made their hearts shudder.

"ULRICH!" Yelled Odd.

"Where are you?!" Yelled Yumi and Aelita.

"H….e…re" Ulrich forced out.

"Do you see him? What's going on? Is he okay?" Jeremy frantically questioned the others.

"Calm down Einstein we don't see him….wait I found William…." Said Odd.

The three warriors had reached William though they couldn't see Ulrich. William was standing in front of the stone wall with his arm up and the X.A.N.A symbol on his forehead was glowing a bright red. Almost like his power was growing.

"Where's Ulrich William?" Yumi calmly, with concern in her eyes, asked.

"Hmph. You can't save him…so why does it matter where he is?" William said.

"You bastard! WHERE THE HELL IS ULRICH?! TELL ME BEFORE I BEAT YOU!" Odd threatened.

William's eyes flicked up towards the top of the wall.

The three friends followed his gaze to the top of the stone wall. Ulrich was at the top, being held up by his hands. There was a smokey glow around him that seemed too much like poison.

"Ulrich? Are you okay?" Yumi yelled.

"What did you do to him?" Aelita asked X.A.N.A more than William.

"I'm not finished. X.A.N.A needs another warrior to do his bidding." William explained with a smirk.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM TO GET HIM LIKE THIS?! I'm thinking _THAT'S _what Aelita meant by her question." Odd shouted as close as he could get to William's face.

William only smiled as his whole body began to glow and soon it was surrounded by smoke. The smoke then travelled up his arm and up to where Ulrich was. Screams and agonizing cries were heard again throughout Lyoko.

The three Lyoko warriors were about to attack until William held up his other hand to them and stopped the attack on Ulrich. They could hear a sigh of relief come from Ulrich as he lost consciousness. Odd, Yumi, and Aelita looked at each other with a confused yet angry gleam in their eyes until they again set their sights on William.

"I only answered your question Odd." William winked at Odd.

**(A/N) I just finished re-watching the entire Code Lyoko series about a month ago. I love the show and Ulrich/Odd so I decided I wanted to try to write a fanfic with them. Also don't know how long this story will be because I have _horrible_ writer's block all the time. So enjoy the story and REVIEW! ~~ I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS KINDA CRAPPY AND SHORT BUT TRUST ME IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER AND THE CHAPTERS GET LONGER! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Two - N/A Life Points**

Odd, Yumi, and Aelita continued their relentless attacks against William. He had became much more powerful since being taken over by X.A.N.A. that he was fighting ALL three of them with only one hand…no sword. The warriors didn't give up because they had to get Ulrich back.

"O…dd Yum…i Aeli...ta?" Ulrich gasped as he regained consciousness.

"Ulrich are you okay?" All his friends asked at the same time, including Jeremy.

"Hon…estly…I've felt…bett…er. Can you get me do...wn?" Ulrich slowly asked between breaths with a hint of a chuckle.

"We're trying buddy, but this guy is a pain in the ass." Odd explained.

William smirked as he summoned more krabs along with some hornets.

"Damn this is going to take awhile." Yumi said in a frustrated tone.

"Odd let the girls handle them…you attack William while I try to get Ulrich to de-virtualize." Jeremy commanded.

"OKAY!" The warriors exclaimed as they went for battle.

As soon as they had their orders Aelita took Yumi and they lured the monsters away from where Odd and Ulrich were.

Odd lunged himself at William, not even shooting a laser arrow. William had expected an arrow so the sudden change in tactic caught him off guard making him take the immediate hit from Odd. William was taken to the ground with Odd on top of him, his arm not going down and still holding Ulrich. He only had one arm to defend himself against Odd's merciless attacks.

"Let Ulrich go you damn monster!" Odd yelled in Williams face.

Suddenly, Odd saw that William's face became distorted into a hellish grin that accompanied the strange gleam in his eye like he had just seen his own victory. William's grin grew as he unexpectedly did what Odd had ordered. He put his arm down letting Ulrich fall. Odd watched Ulrich fall as he sprang to his feet and ran towards him. William turned over on his stomach and grabbed both of Odd's legs making him fall again. The Cat tried and tried to get away in time to catch Ulrich, but soon failed as he saw his best friend hit the virtual ground with a hard thump.

"ULRICH!" Odd screamed as loud as his teen voice would allow.

Ulrich lay there motionless. The fact that he didn't de-virtualize falling at such a height scared Odd and Jeremy as he had been watching the whole scene.

William stood up, now hovering, over the purple Cat. His head held back as he began laughing hysterically. He knew he had won.

"What a good idea it was to let him go. Thank you Odd. Now he MUST be weakened enough to possess." William said while he continued laughing.

* * *

A few miles away from where Odd was, Yumi and Aelita were still dealing with the remaining monsters. Jeremy finally got Yumi the over wing so she would be able to fight equally with the hornets while Aelita was defeating the last of the krabs.

"ULRICH!" His name echoed throughout the entire mountain region.

The voice and the name that was said made both Yumi and Aelita freeze still.

"Jeremy WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE?!" Yumi screamed extremely worried.

Jeremy explained what happened from his point of view.

"WHAT?! Shouldn't he have been de-virtualized if he fell from that height? I mean it was a straight WALL!" Yumi shouted.

"Yes Jeremy I agree he should've ran out of life points. Is there some kind of bug?" Aelita asked.

Jeremy had finished a scan that would've caught a bug, but failed with no luck.

"There isn't a bug from what the scan picked up and Ulrich doesn't have any life points I don't even see zero life points…there's nothing there!" Jeremy said in a panicked tone.

"Wait…that doesn't mean he's…" Yumi gasped while trying to keep her balance on the over wing.

"Calm down guys there has to be something wrong...keep checking Jeremy!" Aelita said while locking her gaze with Yumi's.

"Okay girls finish up quick and get back to Odd and Ulrich! Hurry!" Jeremy said with clear concern.

Yumi quickly, and not with grace, finished off the last of the hornets as Aelita did the same with the last krab.

"Come on Aelita get on!" Yumi impatiently yelled to Aelita and at the same time she was fighting the urge to just leave and not wait for her friend.

Aelita could clearly see the concern and worry in her friend's eyes. It made her worry more and more the longer she stared at Yumi.

"Don't worry it'll be okay Yumi. We're going to save Ulrich." Aelita reassured.

"I know." Yumi said, her voice stern but the honest doubt in her eyes said differently.

**(A/N) I'm not really liking the way I decided to spell Jeremy's name. So I changed it to the "y." Anyways hope you're enjoying the story so far. I know my chapters are short can't help, but make them short or I'll start to ramble. :) REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Three - Guilt and Grief**

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally he's not moving. Let's continue where we left off Ulrich." William said in an inviting voice.

As William began walking towards Ulrich something had caught his ankle. At the same time he had turned to look down at it he was hit by a purple, raging, fist. William went flying until he had hit another neighboring mountain wall.

"Don't…touch…him." Odd said while panting.

"Jeremy how many life points do we all have left?" Odd asked while regaining breath.

"You and Aelita still have 80 life points while Yumi has 60." Jeremy explained.

"Dammit Yumi. I have a feeling this is going to be a long fight." Odd spat.

While William was trying to regain his strength and get back up Odd decided to go straight to Ulrich. The run to his best friend seemed like it would never end as he continued running with all his strength, Ulrich looked as though he kept getting further and further away. Odd, now panting had to rest. As he slowed down he noticed he was surrounded by smoke. Then he thought he heard…

"Super Smoke." William whispered by Odd's ear.

William's breath sent shivers over his entire body. Odd sprang and swung his arm around at the same time William transformed into smoke. The smoke was now gone and William made his way over the Ulrich. Odd could only watch as he slowly began to pick up speed again.

William put his hand around Ulrich's neck and lifted him up. Expecting to get a quick reaction he flinched; he silently laughed at himself. He put smoke around Ulrich's wrists and began lifting him up against the wall. Although, this time Ulrich wasn't at the top of the wall but just in arms reach from William. Now that Ulrich was being held up by the smoke, William removed his hand from the warrior's neck and touched two fingers to his own forehead, where the X.A.N.A symbol was, while closing his eyes.

Lightning and smoke began to lash out all around the two. Odd could feel the intentional evil in the air and it had him scared stiff. He didn't know what was happening or what was going to happen only that he didn't want to go near William.

"ODD HURRY! GET ULRICH!" Jeremy yelled into his headset.

This made Odd jump and he began walking then quickly switched to a hesitant run towards the enemy that held his best friend. He could see Yumi and Aelita coming from the right of him and he left out a relieved breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Yumi jumped off the hover board, followed by Aelita and the three Lyoko warriors charged toward William and Ulrich. It was like the mountain region began to glow red as William pulled his fingers away from his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes.

"X.A.N.A!" William roared towards the sky as the clouds turned a dark gray.

William's eyes had turned red except for the symbol inside was kept black, but was now glowing. The symbol on his forehead had doubled as his fingers still point at it, but are no longer touching it.

"It's almost like he's replicating his X.A.N.A symbol from his forehead and transferring it to Ulrich" Aelita gasped in horror.

"What?!" The others said in unison.

"That's not how X.A.N.A possesses people. It won't work like that will it Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"…"

"Jeremy?" Aelita whispered.

"I'm sorry this is my fault…I thought X.A.N.A would try something, but I didn't know it would be _ANYHTING_ like this. Just save him…I can't do anything for him. The scans aren't finding anything wrong with the entire program and I still haven't figured out why Ulrich doesn't have any life points and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Jeremy sobbed.

"Jeremy calm down we're going to save him. It's not your fault. Any of this." Aelita reassured.

"Yeah Einstein we all pretty much pressured him into coming to Lyoko. But don't worry I'm saving Ulrich if it'll kill me virtually or in reality." Odd announced as he stood in front of the two girls.

The girls looked at him then each other as they closed their eyes as though they were saying a silent prayer. The three warriors stood before William, their stances ready for battle, turning their hands into fists they rushed the enemy and what remained of their friend.

"Be safe guys. Especially you Ulrich I'm sorry I made you go to Lyoko…" Jeremy took his headset off as he continued sobbing and spouting his self pity accusations.

**(A/N) During this chapter I had Code Lyoko's opening song in my head...constantly replaying. So I have a bit of a headache. More chapters shall come asap. Possibly. REVIEW! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Four - Please**

The three Lyoko warriors fought hard against the monsters William, again, summoned as they pushed their way through to their fourth member.

"GO! YUMI NOW!" Odd exclaimed as he destroyed the krab that was standing in front of William.

Yumi jumped up and over the explosion the krab made and threw both fans at William, hoping to stop whatever ritual he was preparing. The fans flew over and around William, as they got closer William looked at Yumi, clear evil in his gaze, the fans dropped and disintegrated into the ground. The Japanese warrior fell to her knees. Confused and completely defeated.

'_What the hell just happened I knew my fans hit him…?' _Yumi thought with aggression.

"What happened Yumi?!" Aelita asked as she helped Yumi to her feet.

"I don't know it's like he has an invisible defense surrounding him." Yumi explained; pain in her eyes.

"YUMI! That stunt just made you lose 20 life points!" Jeremy yelled completely confused.

"WHAT? WHY? He didn't even touch me!" Yumi yelled.

"Did he do ANYTHING at all to you?" Aelita asked.

"No…wait. He did _look_ at me, but that's it." Yumi said puzzled.

"Then he must've done something just with that. What do you think Jeremy?" Aelita explained knowing this wouldn't ease their growing confusion.

"I don't have a clue just dodge even when you don't feel it's necessary." Jeremy added.

"HELLO GUYS I COULD USE A HAND OR FOUR OVER HERE!" Odd yelled at the two warriors while frantically trying to dodge four krabs.

"Jeremy I need my fans again!"

"Sure coming right up."

Odd managed to get rid of the krabs, but the hornets and kankrelats still remained.

"Tch. I'm getting PISSED!" Odd screamed while destroying the last kankrelat.

"That's the last of the monsters." Said a relieved Yumi.

"Drop him William or X.A.N.A…whatever." Odd threatened.

William just glared at the three warriors before the symbol had completely separated from his own.

"AHAHAHAHA this is it." William said victorious.

William moved his fingers, which held the X.A.N.A symbol, toward Ulrich.

"NO! GUYS GO NOW!" Jeremy screamed at the screen.

The friends jumped and lunged at William. He just grinned at the pathetic warriors. Making sure it would possess him; William shoved the symbol directly into Ulrich's chest instead of his forehead.

The overwhelming power that was just set in Ulrich released an explosion that blew the others quite a distance away from their friend. Even from the distance though they could still hear William howling in laughter as he succeeded. They had started hearing another sound another voice now. It was Ulrich.

"AHHHHHHHH! ST…OP IT! STOP WIL…L…IAM!" Ulrich cried.

* * *

Yumi awoke and noticed she was underneath a boulder crushing her legs. Knowing she was finished and couldn't help Ulrich; Yumi began to sob even though you couldn't cry in the virtual world. If she had been in reality listening to this like Jeremy she doesn't even know if she would be able to control her tears.

Aelita felt sick to her stomach she didn't know what William or X.A.N.A was doing to her friend but she knew from past experiences from being X.A.N.A's target that it had to be painful beyond belief. She looked at Yumi with her head down, defeated and crying. She looked around to Odd, but couldn't see him.

"Jeremy did Odd get de-virtualized?" Aelita asked quietly.

"No…he didn't Ae…Aelita." Jeremy said through his tears.

_I bet it's hard to completely listen to that on full volume…_ Aelita thought to herself.

Yumi picked her head up to look for Odd. Instead of looking behind or to the sides of her she got this feeling and just looked straight…that's where she saw Odd, on his feet running towards William and Ulrich. Yumi smiled and continued crying.

"ODD PLEASE SAVE ULRICH!" Yumi screamed as she began to de-virtualize into the air. She looked towards Aelita…

_Please. Help them. _

Aelita nodded as she said goodbye to her friend.

"Aelita please be careful you and Odd both only have 50 life points left." Jeremy pleaded.

"It's okay Jeremy. We'll get Ulrich back." Aelita promised.

**(A/N) I made Jeremy really...hmm emotional...I guess. Oh well...I LOVE ODD. This probably will be Odd/Ulrich. :) REVIEW PLEASE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Five - Over Protection or Possessiveness?**

Fuming with rage, Odd refused to give up when his friend needed him. He blamed himself for pressuring Ulrich into coming to Lyoko with them. They all had though it would be a quick trip to gather data on X.A.N.A and the replica Lyokos.

_Damn is this different then what we thought it'd be. I'm so sorry Ulrich. _Odd silently thought.

He continued running while dodging the smoke clouds and debris that came his way. He changed to running on all fours hoping it make him more agile and faster. He HAD to get to Ulrich!

"ULRICH I'M COMING HANG ON BUDDY!" Odd screamed through the smoke.

"PLEA…SE PLEASE HUR…RY ODD!" Ulrich begged.

Aelita finally caught up to Odd as the both continued running through the smoke filled mountains.

"Aelita we need a plan to get Ulrich away from William…got any ideas?" Odd asked.

"Why don't we just attack head on?" Aelita said while grinning.

"What? Isn't that reckless especially in this type of situation?"

"I'm just thinking like "Odd" would. Here let's do this I'll take William while you get Ulrich."

"Heh. Sure okay. You distract William and I'll get Ulrich. What do I do when I have him though? He can't be de-virtualized." Odd asked.

"Just hide for now I'll figure it out." Jeremy cut in.

"Let's go!" Aelita cheered.

"Okay thanks Aelita and thanks eavesdropper." Odd smiled as he ran left.

Aelita winked at him as she ran right.

"I hope this works." Yumi prayed.

"I hope so to." Jeremy said

_I wanted to try and reassure Yumi, but even I don't know if it'll work. _Jeremy clasped his hands tight.

* * *

"Heeey Will-iam." Aelita teased as she ran towards his back.

William spun his head around and grinned. While his right hand was still connected to Ulrich's chest; his left hand summoned his sword. He swung it, making a wall of smoke and lightning. Aelita activated her wings and flew around the wall.

"Energy Field." A pink ball emanated out of her hand as she threw it at William.

William couldn't dodge it or move his sword in time. With a sly grin, he grabbed onto Ulrich's body, swung him around so that Ulrich was in front on William, using him as a shield. Ulrich's face was distorted in pain, but the distortion increased when he was hit by Aelita's Energy Field.

"AHHHHHHH STOP!" Ulrich screeched in pain as his, now free, hands grabbed onto William's arm, in an attempt to free himself from William's grasp.

Aelita gasped as another wall of smoke was thrown her way and knocked her aside as she tried to fly away.

"CAREFUL AELITA! You only have 20 life points left." Jeremy exclaimed.

Jeremy turned around in his chair to look at Yumi. He couldn't meet her eyes since she was huddled on the ground shaking. Seeing his friend in that state and knowing he wasn't being any help in the rescue to save Ulrich, Jeremy couldn't take it anymore.

"DAMMIT! GET ULRICH NOW ODD!" Jeremy yelled impatiently.

William was focused completely on defeating Aelita that he was taken by surprise when Odd jumped out from behind the stone wall and knocked his sword out of his hand.

"Bastard I got you now." Odd said with a smirk.

"Do you?" William said while he returned the smirk.

William then released Ulrich from his grasp and transformed into smoke. He returned to X.A.N.A, disappearing into the virtual sea.

It was like déjà vu to Odd. Ulrich lay there motionless, but he was closer this time so Odd wouldn't have to run in slow motion. Odd cheered inside.

"Ulrich? You okay?" Odd asked as he knelt down beside his fallen friend.

"….."

"Buddy?" Odd knew the tears would've already been there if this had been reality.

Odd put his hands on his shoulders and shook him gently.

"ULRICH WAKE UP!" Odd begged, his shakes becoming harsh.

"Odd." Aelita whispered as she placed a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"We need to hide him somewhere Odd until Jeremy can find out how to de-virtualize him."

"O…Okay." Odd agreed.

Aelita was about to ask Jeremy for the hover bike when Odd silenced her.

"I'm carrying him. Lead the way Aelita." Odd demanded with set determination in his eyes.

Aelita nodded staring straight in the Cat's eyes as if she had discovered something. She led them towards a way tower to travel to another region so they'd have a better chance at hiding. As she walked toward the tower, she glanced back at Odd whose gaze was locked on Ulrich; he was waiting for him to wake up. She could've sworn she felt some sort of over protection or possessiveness in her friend's eyes. She shook off the strange feeling as they made their way to the tower.

**(A/N) Possessiveness...? Odd? Heh. I really didn't expect Aelita to still be there with them. I don't know what happened...I really thought Yumi would still be with them instead of Aelita...well anyways REVIEW! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Six - Alert**

Aelita wasn't sure which region would be the best to hide in. She knew it would either be the forest or desert regions. The ice sector had too much open land much like the mountain sector.

"Jeremy?" Aelita quietly asked.

"…Yes Aelita? What is it?" Jeremy whispered to his headset.

"I'm not sure where we should take Ulrich. X.A.N.A might already have his specters around each of the other sectors." Aelita explained.

Odd tightened his arms around Ulrich. He was getting frustrated that they were just talking instead of moving to hide Ulrich. He had to get his friend out of here.

"I'm not sure either Aelita. Maybe I should do a scan to make sure no monsters are at the other-"

"WHO CARES?! We _have_ to get him out of the mountain sector…don't we?! Either we try to hide him at a different sector until Einstein can fix Ulrich's de-virtualization process _or_ we stay here at the mountain sector and fight whoever comes." Odd said while piercing his furious cat eyes into Aelita's

"…."

"Calm down Odd. You're right; you can't stay where you are...William might still be around. Try the forest region." Jeremy said.

"Let's go Aelita." Odd said while quickly passing her.

Aelita looked at her purple friend with worry in her eyes, for he had lost the light in his as he spoke.

_He should've woken up by now. I know William succeeded in whatever that ritual was. The real fight will soon come when Ulrich wakes up. _Aelita hated what her thoughts were saying about fighting her friend, but she knew they were right.

* * *

Back at the lab, Jeremy took his headset off and jumped down from his chair.

"Yumi? Are you okay?" Jeremy asked, sitting down next to the young girl.

"….Yeah I'm fine Jeremy. I just want this to be over and…I want Ulrich here."

"I know Yumi. We won't leave him in X.A.N.A's hands. We'll get him back." Jeremy reassured.

Jeremy placed his hand on Yumi's shoulder as he stood. He walked back to the computer as he saw red lights flashing all over the computer screen.

"What the..?" Jeremy gasped as he began assessing the situation on the screen.

"AELITA! ODD! ULRICH'S LIFE POINTS CAME BACK!" Jeremy yelled delighted.

As soon as those words left Jeremy's mouth the computer crashed, turning the screen black.

Yumi shot up and ran to stand behind her friend.

"What happened to the computer Jeremy?! Where did they go?" Yumi asked in shock.

Jeremy was just as confused as Yumi. He had no idea what happened.

_Wait…I can't see them, but maybe they can still hear me._

"ULRICH?! YOU AWAKE?" Jeremy screamed into the black screen.

The screen suddenly switched back on; there were only the three Lyoko warriors on the screen like nothing had happened.

_What the? Why did it suddenly shut down? _

Jeremy was still stunned that he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

"Jeremy? What happened to the computer? They're still okay right?" Yumi asked with concern in her strained voice.

"I…I'm not sure what happened Yumi, but I think it has something to do with Ulrich's life points suddenly returning…"

"Is he okay? Did he wake up? Odd? Aelita?" Yumi almost screaming in Jeremy's headset.

Jeremy had to wait until the ringing in his ears subsided before he could form words.

"Wh…what's going on guys? Aelita? Can you hear me?" Jeremy asked his screen.

"….."

"Jer…emie. De-vir…tualize Ael...ita." Odd said while panting.

"Odd? Are you okay? Where's Aelita?! Tell me what's going on over there? Did you make it to the forest sector?!"

"…..Alm…ost. At the sam…e time you sa…id Ul…rich's life poin…ts came ba…ck he…" Odd struggled to speak.

"DAMMIT! AELITA?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Jeremy yelled.

"Yes Jere…mie. We're sti…ll in the moun…tain region. We didn't ma…ke…it. Will-" Aelita's sentence cut off.

"ULRICH CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WHAT HAPPENED…? ODD? AELITA?" Yumi screamed; tears forming in her eyes.

Smoke began filling the mountain sector at the same time the shady smoke covered the computer screen.

"What's going on over there? I can barely see them anymore." Jeremy exclaimed while trying to fix the problem on the screen.

_(coughing)_

"Ulrich?! Odd?! Aelita?!

The computer began flashing and making any alert noises it had.

"What's going on with the computer Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"I don't know yet; the screen is still covered in smoke. I had no idea what's going on."

Suddenly, the elevator came to their floor. As the doors began to open, Jeremy and Yumi tensed up ready for a X.A.N.A specter.

Their bodies only tensed more as they saw their pink haired friend fall onto the floor.

"Aelita?!"

"What happened over there Aelita?" Jeremy asked as he picked her head up.

"Jer…ermie. Get O…dd out of Ly…oko. It's too m…uch for him now. X.A.N.A bu…gged us so that the wou…nds we get th…ere actua…lly hu…rt us here. Help him Jere…mie, Yu…mi" Aelita said as she passed out, exhausted.

"Dammit! Jeremy what do we do now?! Where's Ulrich? We CAN'T LEAVE HIM THERE!" Yumi exclaimed with tears rushing out of her eyes.

Jeremy repositioned Aelita so she was lying back down and let out an aggravated sigh.

His fists clenched as his own tears joined Yumi's on the floor.

"First, we have to de-virtualize Odd. We will get Ulrich back. I promise Yumi." Jeremy said through sniffling.

"Then send me back Jeremy. I'll get Ulrich out of the mountain sector. Please!" Yumi pleaded.

"No. I have to fix the bug somehow through the smoky screen. I can't tell you where enemies are since I won't be able to see you. It's too dangerous. I'm sorry Yumi."

Yumi collapsed to her knees; pounding her fists on the ground as she continued to cry.

_Ulrich…dammit_

"Odd? Are you okay? I'm going to de-virtualize you. Odd?"

"Wh…at the he…ll Ein…stein? I don't ca…re what kind of bug it is, I'm not leav…ing him."

_(coughing)_

"ODD?! You can't stay there…it's too dangerous for you alone." Jeremy yelled into the fogged screen.

"C...ome on Einstein it's just Will…iam again. I've deal…t with this bas…tard before."

"But the bug makes his attacks actually hurt you in Lyoko and it hurts more in reality." Jeremy explained with a pleading voice.

"I don't care. I'm not leav…ing Ulrich he…re no ma…tter what William do…es. Bug or no bug. Just leave it to Odd!" Odd cheered through more coughing.

"But-"

"Jeremy…please let me stay with him."

"O…okay Odd. Last time I checked you only had 50 life points left."

"I dou…bt I have that many lef…t" Odd said with slight laughter.

"I'll try to fix the computer's system along with the bug. You do what you can there. Odd just get Ulrich to a way tower, don't try to fight William and please keep Ulrich safe."

"Don't wo…rry Einstein and like I was say…ing earlier, as soon as you sa…id his life points came ba…ck he…open…ed his eyes."

Jeremy smiled his biggest smile as he looked back at Yumi. She was now standing; still with tears in her eyes. Aelita was still lying down but had her eyes slightly open with a small smile on her face.

* * *

Odd didn't know how much more his body could take of William's attacks. It hurt everywhere, but he still stood to his feet. He faced William with Ulrich lying down behind him. The cat then got into a fighting stance…ready to lunge at his enemy.

He looked back at his friend. Ulrich's eyes were barely open, but they were open. Odd smiled at his friend, whom he cared so much for. He'd do anything for Ulrich to keep him safe. Ulrich's eye's widened as he noticed that his friend's smile held more sorrow then happiness…but what worried him most was what Odd's eyes were saying to him.

_I'm sorry for everything Ulrich…I WILL protect you. _

Odd's smile faded as he looked into Ulrich's eyes. His eyes closed as he turned towards William, ready for battle. The cat's eyes reopened to look directly at his prey.

_William. X.A.N.A. Whoever. You can't have him._

Ulrich quickly sat up at the same time Odd and William charged at one another.

"O…dd" Ulrich's voice was strained to barely a whisper that only a cat could hear it.

**(A/N) That chapter was the longest so far. It just kept going...didn't know where to end it. I think it's pretty good. :) Anyways sorry it took awhile to write this chapter. Please R&R it makes me happy to continue writing. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Five Minutes **

**Chapter Seven - Gratitude and Confusion**

Jeremy kept typing and typing, trying to figure out what had happened to the screen. He still couldn't see anything, but he could hear a lot of fighting going on. It worried him.

_Dammit! Why won't this work?! I can't see anything so I won't be able to fix the bug until the damn screen is fixed! What am I supposed to do now?_

"Jeremy…?"

"Aelita?! You're awake! How're you feeling?"

Jeremy got down from the computer screen and ran to where Aelita was as Yumi watched the screen.

"Is she okay Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"I'm fine…really guys." Aelita quietly reassured; she slowly tried to sit up.

"You sure? You can hardly sit up all the way" Jeremy asked completely concerned.

"It could've been worse. Trust me." Aelita said with a slight smile filled with worry as she looked at the computer screen.

"H…ey Einstein? You th…ere?

"Jeremy! Come here!" Yumi yelled without looking away from the screen.

Jeremy got up and took Yumi's spot in front of the screen.

"What's going on now?" Jeremy asked in an irritated tone.

"HEY! Ein…stein?!

"Wha…Odd?! What's going on over at Lyoko now? You guys okay?"

"Fin…ally you answered. Yeah…Ulri…ch's okay. For now at least…I don't know where Will…iam went, he just disa…ppeared." Odd said through panting.

"Ulrich's okay…what about you? And what do you mean disappeared? Where are you guys?"

"Calm do…wn. Like I said I don't know what happ…ened with William. He's ju…st gone. After he left I carried Ul…rich to the for…est sector. We're hid…ing in a hollow tree trunk."

"So you guys escaped!? That's great! Right Jeremy?!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yeah it is. Just strange that William just up and left like that." Jeremy said with confusion.

"Heh. Yeah left dur…ing the fight too. Cow…ardly bas…tard." Odd started breathing heavily.

"Wait. You never answered me Odd. Are you okay?!" Jeremy said now extremely worried.

"Damn Einst…ein. Let's just say Lyo…ko has not only pain, but blood too." Odd said in between pants.

"BLOOD?!" Yumi and Aelita both yelled.

"Where are you hurt Odd? Is it really b…bad?" Jeremy struggled to speak.

"Let me see. My left shoulder looks pre…tty bad and my left leg has a sli…ght gash on it. It's rea…lly not that bad guys." Odd said in the most convincing tone he could make.

"Li…ar."

"Ulrich?! You're awake?" Yumi screamed straight into Jeremy's headset.

"Yumi. Please stop doing that. I'll go deaf. Ulrich how do you feel?"

"I feel pretty drained, but I'm alive." Ulrich said while he kept his eyes locked on Odd.

"That's good. Well there are quite a few problems going on over here. The screen, for some reason, is still fogged. So I can't do much until I get that fixed." Jeremy explained.

"Can't do much? As in wh…at Ein…stein?" Odd asked.

"Like I can't fix the bug, can't get you your vehicles, reload your laser arrows, I can't see you or enemies, I also can't see your life points, and I can't de-virtualize you."

"Is that all? I thou…ght it'd be wor…se" Odd joked.

"So…pretty much all you can do is ju…st talk. That's it?" Ulrich asked.

"Sorry guys. I'm working on the screen now."

"Wait. Why is it fo…gged up? Wh…at happened to it?" Odd asked.

"It happened…"

Jeremy closed his eye as he thought back to the exact moment it happened. So much happened and it was so fast. It scared him.

"_DAMMIT! AELITA?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Jeremy yelled._

"_Yes Jere…mie. We're sti…ll in the moun…tain region. We didn't ma…ke…it. Will-" Aelita's sentence cut off._

"_ULRICH CAN YOU HEAR ME?! WHAT HAPPENED…? ODD? AELITA?" Yumi screamed; tears forming in her eyes. _

_Smoke began filling the mountain sector at the same time the shady smoke covered the computer screen._

"_What's going on over there? I can barely see them anymore." Jeremy exclaimed while trying to fix the problem on the screen. _

_(coughing) _

"_Ulrich?! Odd?! Aelita?! _

_The computer began flashing and making any alert noises it had. _

"_What's going on with the computer Jeremy?" Yumi asked. _

"_I don't know yet; the screen is still covered in smoke. I had no idea what's going on."_

_Suddenly, the elevator came to their floor. As the doors began to open, Jeremy and Yumi tensed up ready for a X.A.N.A specter. _

_Their bodies only tensed more as they saw their pink haired friend fall onto the floor._

"_Aelita?!"_

"Jeremy?" Aelita asked concerned as a tear escaped his eye.

"What? I…I'm fine. It started fogging up when William was attacking Odd and Aelita…then Aelita got de-virtualized. At the same time a bunch of alerts were flashing and going off I had a hard time just fixing those."

"What were the alerts from" Yumi asked.

"I still don't know. I couldn't see them from the screen being fogged. I got them to turn off though, so I thought I would try fixing the bug blind, if I couldn't get the screen cleared. I just don't want to make things any worse then they already are…" Jeremy said as he clenched his fists.

Yumi put her hand onto Jeremy's and smiled gently at him.

"You'll fix it Jeremy. It'll be okay."

Jeremy nodded as he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Oka…y we'll hold out here un…til you can fix the… whatever your fix…ing." Odd said.

"Keep your guard up. Odd. Ulrich. William might attack again once he finds you." Jeremy explained.

"Right." Ulrich and Odd said in unison.

"If he fin…ds us." Odd added.

Aelita stayed propped up against the wall where she was once passed out. Jeremy continued typing blind trying to "fix" the bug. Yumi tried as hard as she could to clear her mind as she paced back in forth around the computer room.

* * *

Odd and Ulrich sat next to each other inside the trunk of a hollow tree. Both exhausted, but they didn't allow the comfort of sleep to take over.

"Seems like Lyoko is be…coming more real. I mean now we're tired. Soon we're going to ha…ve to piss." Odd said with a smile and a light chuckle.

"Heh. I'm not sure where I'd want to piss at around he…re." Ulrich chuckled.

"True. We could always dig a hole."

They continued laughing with each other as the virtual world switched from day to night.

As the hours passed Ulrich helped with Odd's many wounds, trying to at least stop the bleeding...for now.

"…Hey Odd."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Thank you."

Odd was speechless. He didn't expect Ulrich to say "thank you" let alone say it like he did. It sounded sad, but sincere.

"Even though I was unconscious…it was weird, but I could still hear you clearly. You wouldn't leave me, even though the bug made it more real…even though Jeremy wanted you to de-virtualize, you stayed. So thank you. You really saved me this time."

The whole time Ulrich spoke Odd just stared in awe.

_When did I say that? When did that happen? What made me say that?_

Odd was feeling strangely confused. He knew what he had said. He just didn't know exactly what he meant by those words.

_I guess it was just the heat of the moment…right? Maybe I'm over thinking it a bit. _

Odd realized he had been quiet for awhile now, and the Ulrich was staring at him.

"You okay? Didn't expect me to say "thanks?" Ulrich said through a smirk.

"…Heh. Yeah that surprised me." Odd said with his usual smile.

_That's not the only thing that surprised me. _

Ulrich saw that Odd was quiet again and now really thinking hard about something. It confused him.

_Did I say something wrong?_

They no longer felt the need to sleep as they both were internally conflicted with their own confusion.

_Why did I say something like that? It'd be different if it was Aelita or Yumi I was protecting…but Ulrich? My best friend? I wouldn't leave him? Friends can say stuff like that right? Guys can say stuff like that…right?_

"_What did I say that made ODD so quiet? I mean he's really THINKING about something. Think back. What did I say? Dammit!…I got nothing. _

**(A/N)I've been trying to make the chapters longer. It's difficult for me though because I tend to ramble and I want this fanfic to be good and make sense. Another thing...Odd is slowly realizing...something as for Ulrich...like he said "I got nothing." So yeah...new chapter coming soon. :) R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Eight - First Nightmare in Lyoko**

"_ULRICH!"_

Odd jumped at the sound of his own voice screaming out to his best friend as he fell from the wall.

"What the hell was that?" Odd said still panting.

He turned to look at his best friend lying beside him. Ulrich looked almost too calm even to be sleeping. Remembering his dream, the thought that he might not be sleeping scared Odd. The purple Cat jumped on top of Ulrich and began shaking him.

"W…what are you doing Odd?!" Ulrich yelled as he fought off his, strangely, stronger friend.

Odd eyes widen as he realized what he did…and was still doing. Ulrich sat up as Odd released his shoulders and sat back. Ulrich couldn't see his friend's eye, but he knew something was wrong.

"What happened Odd? Are you okay?"

"Nothings wrong I just had a bad dream. Heh Lyoko has dreams now."

"Odd."

Ulrich put his hand under Odd's chin and lifted his head. The look in Odd's eyes said everything he needed to know.

"You're worried about me."

Odd blinked. Strangely enough that thought had never crossed his mind; even though it was true. Odd snapped out of the moment when he realized Ulrich's hand was under his chin and that he was _still_ straddling Ulrich. He quickly jumped up and walked to the entrance of the hollow tree they were living in.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you Ulrich."

"A little late for that isn't it Odd? I'm awake now…so it doesn't matter." Ulrich struggled to stand.

Odd looked to see his friend not able to stand up.

"Ulrich?! What's wrong?" Odd asked as he ran over to help him up.

"I don't know, but I feel like I don't have any strength. Even _you_ felt stronger than me earlier."

"Ulrich…wait. Really?"

Ulrich glared at his friend who was now eye level with him.

"Haha. Hang on. Einstein? Hey Einstein…you there?"

"Yeah I'm here. Is everything okay?" Jeremy asked while he continued to type.

"For some reason Ulrich doesn't have any strength to even stand Jeremy." Odd explained.

"Okay I'll look into it. I'm still trying to get rid of the fogged scream. I almost have it…I know it! Just stay where you are and save what strength you have Ulrich." Jeremy said as he still continued to type.

"Alright Einstein. We'll just…wait…here…then." Odd said in a bored tone.

Ulrich rolled his eyes as he told Odd to sit him back down.

* * *

Odd left Ulrich as he did his daily perimeter check around the area.

"Hey Einstein?" Odd whispered.

"Odd? Yeah what's up?" Jeremy asked.

"Something else is up with Ulrich. I can't really tell what it is, but I can sense it. Is there anything you can do? Like a scan or I don't know…something?" Odd asked with clear concern.

"Odd. Like I said before I can't do much, let alone a scan, when the screen is fogged. I'll check it out when I can see. Okay? Honestly I've been thinking the same thing as you. We all have."

"Yeah Odd we know William did accomplish something. We just don't know what yet." Aelita added in.

"So keep your guard up. Also please protect Ulrich…Odd." Yumi said in a begging tone.

"I swear I will." Odd said.

Yumi and Aelita noticed the tone of Odd's voice was determined yet stern. They automatically knew he meant what he said, that he wouldn't let them down. Odd gave them the sense of knowing they'll all be together again soon.

"Thank you Odd." Yumi whispered.

Odd continued his rounds around the area.

_William…where are you? Where is anyon….thing? _

The Cat's ears perked up as he heard something…something familiar. Odd quickly turned and ran back towards their tree.

_Ulrich._

As Odd came closer and closer to their tree he heard, once again, the screams of his best friend.

"ULRICH?! What's wrong" Odd asked running towards Ulrich.

Ulrich was turned on his side, shaking, while grabbing at his chest.

(coughing) "O…Odd. It burns…plea…se make it stop." Ulrich strained to get the words out.

Odd couldn't move he stood at the tree's entrance in a daze. He felt as though his world was falling apart when his Ulrich was screaming. He hated it. He can't take it. He couldn't do anything about it.

_Wait….MY Ulrich? What the hell? There's no time for this now._

"Ulrich are you okay? What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Odd was throwing out all these questions even though he knew the answers.

"AHHHHHH! UGHHHH ODD! PLEASE!" Ulrich screamed in agony.

"I…I…I don't know what to do Ulrich!" Odd was now shaking knowing he couldn't do anything to help someone he cares deeply for.

"O…Odd." Ulrich looked up at the eyes of his worried friend.

Odd couldn't hold it any longer he picked up Ulrich into his lap and held him. There wasn't anything more he could do, but hold his friend through his pain.

"You are going to be okay Ulrich. I promise you. I will protect you." Odd said with tears falling down his face.

Odd held Ulrich through the entire night. He never let him go…not even once.

"Th...thank y…ou Odd." Ulrich whispered as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Odd awoke to find Ulrich lying across his chest. This time he had to hold in his "freak out" so he didn't wake Ulrich up.

_Thank God he's alright. I'm surprised he even fell asleep through all that. Speaking of that…what the hell was that?_

Odd was ripped from his thoughts when he felt Ulrich waking up.

"Ulrich? How do you feel?" Odd said as he helped Ulrich sit up.

"We…weaker. Definitely." Ulrich said through pants.

"Trust me Ulrich it'll get better."

"What?!"

Odd turned towards the foreign voice coming from the entrance to their tree.

"O…Odd. Go." Ulrich strained his voice, begging Odd to leave…knowing he was still injured.

"Never." Odd slowly stood and faced his opponent with pure rage in his Cat eyes.

"Jeremy…you fix the com…puter yet?" Ulrich asked in a nervous tone.

"Working on it guys. Odd get Ulrich out of there!" Jeremy demanded.

Odd's stance grew tense as he walked towards the intruder.

"O…Odd." Ulrich forced out.

"ODD! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Yumi yelled into the headset.

"I came back for my new recruit. Hand him over."

Odd's body began to shake as his knuckles turned white with fury.

"No. William."

"What was that…Odd Della Robbia?" William said getting aggravated.

"You will never get him. X.A.N.A will never have him. I will never give him to anyone! Come." Odd said quickly looking back at Ulrich.

"Odd?" Ulrich said confused by Odd's last statement and the strong yet sad look in his eyes.

"Wait Odd! Don't do anything rash! Think about Ulrich! Get him to safety!" Jeremy said…worried.

"Sorry Jeremy I can't do as you ask. I will protect him…while I'm fighting William."

"The bug doesn't work on him Odd! You'll still get hurt!" Jeremy tried to persuade him into running.

"I already know that Jeremy."

"Odd Please…" Ulrich whispered.

Odd looked at Ulrich.

"We'll be fine Ulrich. Trust me. I'll protect you." Odd said as he smiled a smile too big for his face.

Ulrich sat there completely frozen. He didn't know what to think or what to say at the time, but he knew something bad was going to happen despite his friend's glowing smile.

"I'm sorry Odd." Ulrich quietly murmured under his breath.

The Cat turned back towards his prey.

"William."

"Your efforts are futile Cat. He'll join me no matter what you do, but go ahead fight all you want. Come." William summoned his sword as he fell back away from the tree.

"Stay here Ulrich." Odd said with a chuckle, knowing he couldn't move.

"Sure Odd." Ulrich shakily nodded his head.

Odd ran towards the entrance as he felt a hand grab his tail. Completely shocked, he spun around to find his friend lying on his stomach with one hand propping him up and his other hand grabbing the end of the Cat's tail.

"Ulrich?"

"I'm sorry Odd."

Odd knelt down to help Ulrich sit back up away from the door.

"What are you talking about Ulrich?"

"O…Odd." Ulrich struggled to speak before he suddenly passed out.

"Ulrich?! What's wrong?!" Odd yelled, shaking the warrior.

"See. This is exactly what I said would happen." William said, gloating.

Odd set Ulrich down and slowly walked towards the entrance.

"You see now Cat? You know this won't end well for you little Lyoko Warriors."

"William. SHUT UP!" Odd charged at William with his raging fists.

William was struggling to evade Odd's unrelenting blows. William swung his sword just to put some distance between the Cat and himself.

"Like I said it's futile. You can't even hurt me." William said through his laughter.

"Like _I _said. SHUT THE HELL UP!" Odd screamed as he continued attacking William.

Odd was out of laser arrows so he had to rely completely on his own strength and fighting abilities. He had sparred many times with Ulrich and the girls so he knew a few moves at least. To his surprise he was pushing William back.

"Hmm." William said suddenly jumping back away from Odd.

Odd looked at him confused. Then he heard swords being drawn. Odd looked back and saw Ulrich standing up with both swords out. He automatically smiled.

"Ulrich?! Your okay!" Odd exclaimed running towards his friend.

Ulrich held his arms at his sides tightly gripping his blades. Odd quickly wrapped his arms around his best friend.

_Thank you thank you! I'm so glad he's oka…_

Odd was abruptly cut off from his thoughts.

"Ul…rich?! What are you do…ing?" Odd said.

As he backed away from his comrade, at the same time Ulrich's sword was being pulled out. Odd had been stabbed in his side. Blood had covered his purple clothing and dripped down by his feet. The confused Cat looked into the eyes of his best friend…hoping not to see what he already knew was there. The X.A.N.A symbol had taken over the calm gaze his Ulrich always had.

"Ulrich?" Odd slowly walked towards Ulrich, taking a closer look at his appearance.

His hands were tense and shaking; trying to hold his blades still. There was another thing that made Odd's heart hurt even more. Ulrich's breathing sounded strained at the same time he had tears staining his face. Ulrich was still there. Odd knew his friend was fighting it.

"Ulrich it's okay. It'll be ok...ay." Odd said struggling to stand.

William chuckled.

"You can't do anything against us Odd. You feel pain. You bleed. Meaning…you can die."

Ulrich began walking towards Odd with his swords ready to attack.

"Ulrich it's okay. I will save you. Odd promised as he lifted his arm, pointing it straight at Ulrich's head.

**(A/N) Sorry it took awhile to get this chapter up. School and work. Bleh. Anyways I assume my chapters are getting longer. I do admit I started to ramble around the end on this one so it's not my best...but hope you enjoyed reading it anyways! More chapters soon to come! REVIEW! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Nine - Not Strong Enough**

Ulrich stance changed and his swords got ready to strike as Odd shot his last laser arrow. Ulrich stabbed through Odd's arm as Odd's laser arrow hit the center of the X.A.N.A symbol. Ulrich stumbled back dropping his swords to grab his head. Odd fell to the ground gripping the wound on his arm. He was completely shocked that he still had a laser arrow left.

"Ulrich." Odd whisper through pants.

Ulrich looked at his friend through tear-blurred eyes.

"R…run."

Odd struggled to breathe as his vision became blurry. He could barely see the faded silhouette of, Ulrich, his best friend, the person who had stabbed him. Even though X.A.N.A's symbol was on him…Ulrich still had some control, but it wasn't enough to keep him from killing his own best friend. So Odd did just as Ulrich said and ran as fast as he could while trying to keep his bleeding under control. Odd found another hollow tree nearby and sat down to catch his breath.

_Dammit. This really hurts…hah never thought I'd say that while in Lyoko. _

"Einstein. Do some…thing. I can't fight them both." Odd admitted quietly.

"Both? What's happening? Are you okay Odd?!" Jeremy yelled.

"Honestly, no Jeremy. Ulrich got me good. I'm bleeding badly."

"ULRICH?! Wait…what happened to Ulrich?!" Yumi screamed at the still fogged screen.

"Hang on Odd I'll try to do what I can to de-virtualize you. I'll get you out."

"WHAT?! NO! Th…that's not what I meant Jeremy. I meant send me a vehicle or send help…like Yumi!" Odd panicked.

"Yeah Jeremy send me. I'll help them." Yumi reassured in a shaky voice.

"No. I'm not sending anyone else to Lyoko with the bug is still active. Odd I'm bringing you back. Give me a few minutes."

"NO! You CAN'T send me back now Jeremy. I won't leave him here like this. I saw him…he was fighting it. He was STILL fighting X.A.N.A. Please Jeremy."

"Odd we know he's your best friend, but you're our best friend too. He won't die when he's in X.A.N.A's control. YOU could die there! We'll think of something else and come back to get him. Trust me."

Jeremy tried so hard to convince Odd to pull back he didn't want his friends to die…let alone both of them. He knew that sounded bad, but he had to get Odd out of there at least.

The purple Cat couldn't stand the thought of leaving Ulrich here in X.A.N.A's possession. He couldn't do it. Ulrich wouldn't leave him behind and if Yumi were here she wouldn't leave either.

Odd stood.

_It doesn't matter how much blood leaves this body. I'm not leaving him._

Odd took a deep breath and tightly tied his tail around his waist to stop the bleeding. Even though it was an awkward tourniquet, it made his wound feel slightly better.

"Okay I've done enough virtualizations to have the right keys and procedures memorized…I think." Jeremy said in a slightly hopeful tone.

Jeremy started typing the keys for the de-virtualization process.

"Jeremy."

"What Odd? You okay? Hang on I'm getting you out."

"NO!"

Odd's outburst made both Jeremy and Aelita jump. Yumi stood behind Jeremy looking at the fogged screen with tears in her puffy eyes.

"Odd? What are you talking about? You're badly hurt. You can't stay there."

"I'm fine. I'm not leaving yet. I'll get him back."

Aelita slowly got up off the floor and made her way over to the smoked screen.

"Odd you won't be able to do anything in your condition. Please be reasonable." Aelita pleaded.

"Please Odd. We can come back when all of you are healed and after I fix the fogged screen and the bug."

"JUST HOW LONG DO YOU THINK THAT'LL TAKE?!" Odd screamed at the, now, soggy ground that had been soaking up his frustrated tears.

"I'm sorry Odd. I'm getting you out of there. Like you said…you can't fight them both."

"Jere…"

"ODD! Please…you can't. Just come back please..." Yumi sobbed.

Odd clenched his fists. He hated that he couldn't do anything to help him. William had won. X.A.N.A had won. Odd had lost. He couldn't stand it…he hated to lose. He had lost his Ulrich.

_Hah… "My" Ulrich. My best friend. My roommate. My…Ulrich. DAMMIT why can't I do something?! _

Odd lifted his head. He had an idea.

_I'll do it if it kills me…and it just might. _

Jeremy continued to type until he had only one more key to press. He looked at Aelita and she slowly nodded. He looked back at Yumi who had fallen to the floor to continue her sobbing. Jeremy turned back towards his computer ready to de-virtualize Odd. Finger on the key, Jeremy sighed. He had failed.

"WAIT!"

Again both Jeremy and Aelita jumped.

"Wh…what Odd?! I'm sending you back no exceptions!"

"No. Not that. Please just give me a few minutes. Then you can bring me back. Please Jeremy."

"What are you thinking Odd? Do you have a plan?" Aelita asked, concerned.

"Yes. Trust me."

Jeremy and Aelita looked at each other.

"Fine Odd. If I hear William or any fighting I'm bringing you back."

"Don't worry. William doesn't have a part in my plan." Odd said with a smirk.

Jeremy and Aelita looked at each other again. They were both confused by his statement.

Odd took a deep breath in.

"Gotcha."

The Cat ran, through the forest, towards the scent of his best friend.

_I'll save you Ulrich. I promise._

* * *

Odd suddenly stopped in his tracks when he caught the sight of Ulrich. Their gazes locked on one another. They began to walk towards each other, neither looking away from their opponent's eyes. Odd waited for Ulrich to make a move. When they got about arm's length apart they stopped.

"Ulrich." Said Odd in a confident voice.

"Odd." Said Ulrich/X.A.N.A in a possessed voice.

"Let him go." Odd demanded.

"Come get him Della Robbia." X.A.N.A teased.

Odd was about to attack when he looked down at Ulrich's hands. They were shaking again and his face, that X.A.N.A was trying to keep under control, was now grimacing.

_He's there. He's fighting it._

"ULRICH! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Odd yelled.

"N…no you id…iot he can't. I'm in con…trol." X.A.N.A struggled to speak without showing pain on his face.

Odd walked closer to Ulrich and put his arms on his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, he knew Ulrich was still there.

"Ulrich. Please keep fighting!" Odd said while squeezing Ulrich's shoulders.

"Get…OFF OF ME!" X.A.N.A yelled while grabbing his head.

"No. YOU GET OUT OF HIM!" Odd yelled.

He didn't know what was going on inside of Ulrich's head. By the look of pure pain on his face, he knew it was too horrible to think about and the thought of it scared him to the point where his own hands were now shaking.

"O…dd. Please. Shoot me." Ulrich said in a begging tone.

"Ulrich?!" Odd screamed as he threw his arms around Ulrich.

"W…wait. Odd-"

"Ulrich are you okay? Is he gone? What happened?" Odd was so elated that he didn't even hear what Ulrich had said.

"Odd…pleas-"

"Please just tell me your okay!"

"DAMMIT ODD! LISTEN!" Ulrich yelled as loud as he could which took all the breath he had.

"So…sorry. I'm sorry." Odd said slightly stunned.

"I can't hold him for long. You have to shoot me. When he's gone, like this, the bug will work on me."

"Wait. You're telling me to shoot you because the bug will work now?!"

Ulrich nodded. Odd snapped.

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT!? I'M NOT GOING TO SHOOT YOU! HOW COULD YOU EVEN TELL ME TO DO SUCH A THING? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH TO KEEP EINSTEIN FROM BRINGING ME BACK!?" Odd huffed and continued.

"I wouldn't leave you when Jeremy told me to. I wouldn't leave you when Aelita told me to. I wouldn't leave you even when Yumi begged me to. I wouldn't leave because I'm bleeding. I worked so hard just to get here so I can see you…you not X.A.N.A you. I won't shoot you. You're not leaving me." Odd took a breath and sighed.

Ulrich didn't know what to say. He was completely stunned. So Odd continued…

"Why did you want me to shoot you anyways? What good would that do? You'd be dead."

Ulrich finally snapped out of it to answer Odd's questions.

"When X.A.N.A possessed me I could see everything. His thoughts. The thoughts that were going through my head as well as William's. It's like two possessions are two different X.A.N.A's, but the possessions are just a small part of_ the_ X.A.N.A. All the thoughts I had going through my head were his plans…"

"What plans? Does it have anything to do with needing another recruit? Needing you?"

"Yes. He had been keeping track of the Lyoko Warriors and our abilities. Our strengths; weaknesses. He knows everything about us and he's had his specters spy on us while we're here training or de-activating a tower. X.A.N.A's always been in the back somewhere…just watching us."

"So…why you? Why not Aelita? She's been a major part of Lyoko itself."

"Even so she doesn't have my strength; my abilities. She has been on Lyoko most of her life, not knowing anything because her memory was all messed with. Aelita didn't go through the hard times life can give you. That, itself, made me stronger that all of you."

Odd could see Ulrich was beginning to struggle to continue talking about his own life.

"Anyways as I was saying, X.A.N.A was looking for the strongest Lyoko Warrior to take for himself and he knew it'd be a tough possession process because of the strength I've built up to repel his possession. My own theory, but I'm guessing that's why it hurt so much…and why William dropped me. That, and the pain from the possession attempts, made me weaker."

Odd flinched. He remembered when William had dropped Ulrich from the wall. After that...there was just the loud _THUMP!_

"Odd?" Ulrich said shaking Odd's shoulders.

"What? Ah yeah that did make you pretty vulnerable, and that's when he implanted the X.A.N.A possession itself. All this is very informative, but it doesn't answer my question. Why did you want me to sho- kill you?"

"Well remember when I said William and I being possessed is like having two X.A.N.A's in our bodies? Since they both have different thoughts it made me think of "how many X.A.N.A's can there be? What if he comes after you guys?"

"Okay? So there could be a lot more X.A.N.A's. That happened before when more than one person was possessed at the school."

"Alright. Fine. I found out something from the part of X.A.N.A that is possessing me now."

"Okay…and?"

Ulrich turned and started walking away. He stopped then turned back to look at Odd; his face…his eyes…they were both sad.

"What is it Ulrich?" Odd began walking towards Ulrich.

"As you know, the X.A.N.A that's possessing me now is just a _small part_ of the real X.A.N.A. That's why it's easier to take control of my body again. When I was possessed, William/X.A.N.A was talking to me…he said…" Ulrich flinched.

"What? Does it have anything to do with X.A.N.A's plan? For why he took _you_?" Odd said now anxious.

Ulrich nodded and continued talking.

"Yes it does. William didn't know I had taken control of my body again. He said the part of X.A.N.A possessing me was just to keep me _here_."

"Just to keep you here. What does that mean? He's just keeping you prisoner?" Odd's fists clenched.

"For now yes. With X.A.N.A inside me Jeremy wouldn't dare de-virtualize me. He'd want to keep X.A.N.A in Lyoko. So it was perfect for X.A.N.A. With the work of the bug in his favor X.A.N.A had won and he was able to keep me."

"Why does he want to keep you here? Just to have you?" Odd grimaced.

"No Odd. It's not that type of possession." Ulrich gagged.

"So why then?"

"The little part of X.A.N.A inside me now is to keep me from being de-virtualized. The reason he wants to keep me here is so X.A.N.A, himself, can possess me when he's ready."

Odd's face was blank. His eyes were in a complete dead stare. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to react- Wait yes he did.

"DAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL X.A.N.A?! COME OUT HERE NOW! I'LL BEAT YOUR SMOKEY ASS BEFORE YOU'RE EVER INSIDE HIM! YOU HEAR ME?!" Odd screamed at the top of his lungs.

Ulrich was getting used to the screams of "duty to protect his friend" that Odd kept shouting. Even though it felt like a hopeless cause, he somehow got the feeling that Odd could do anything. That Odd would do anything…for him.

Ulrich smiled as he put a hand on Odd's shoulder.

"Odd. That's enough. He can't even hear you. X.A.N.A is beyond the digital sea."

Odd didn't care anymore. He quickly pulled Ulrich into the tightest hug he'd ever given. Ulrich was so cold. He couldn't understand why he was _this _cold.

"Odd. Can't breath."

Odd slightly lessened his tight grip, but he never let go. Ulrich slowly wrapped his arms around Odd and put his forehead on Odd's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Ulrich. If only I was stron-"

Odd gasped for breath as a blade plunged through his stomach.

"N…no I'm so…rry O…dd. If only I was strong…er" Ulrich said between sobs.

Ulrich yanked his blade out of his best friend's body. Odd fell to the ground and into a puddle of his own blood.

"Ul…rich." Odd gasped for breath.

Ulrich stood over Odd with one bloodied blade in one hand. The blade hovered just slightly above Odd's chest. The blade began shaking as it was about to pierce Odd's heart. The shaking began rapid. Tears were flooding from Ulrich's eyes. He fell to his knees beside Odd; his head hung.

"Ulrich. It's ok…ay. Real...ly. Don't cry o…ver this. It's not that ba…d." Odd knew it wasn't Ulrich who had stabbed him. The first time or the second time. Both had been X.A.N.A's doing.

Odd lifted his bloody hand to touch Ulrich's face. Ulrich lifted his head to the _still_ warm touch of his best friend. He put his hand over Odd's and held it to his face.

"I'm sorry Odd. For stabbing you again…even if I was possessed. I should've been stronger. I'm...sorry for all the complaining I do about your stench, your side of our room, and for your dog. I'm sorry for everything…I'm sorry for this." Ulrich took Odd's hand off his face and placed it were he'd been stabbed and stood.

Looking down at his fallen friend made Ulrich's stomach turn. The look at Odd was giving him was a mix of confusion and sorrow.

_How many times have I said "sorry" to you Odd? I'll be saying it more after this._

"Jeremy?"

"…."

"HEY Jeremy?!"

"Ul…Ulrich is that you? Sorry I didn't have my headset on. I was trying to fix the computer still. Are you okay? How's Odd?"

"Ulrich?! Are you okay?! What happened?!" Yumi yelled.

"Sorry. Can't explain. I need you to call an ambulance and de-virtualize Odd now."

The whole time Ulrich was talking he kept his eyes on Odd. He watched as Odd's expression changed from confusion to panic.

"Plea…se no. Ul…rich. I can't…-" Odd said coughing up blood.

"You have to leave or you're going to die. Don't worry about me."

"AMBULANCE!? What's wrong with him?" Aelita and Jeremy both yelled.

"I stabbed him."

The whole computer room fell silent.

Ulrich sadly smirked.

"No…it wasn't your faul…t" Odd forced his mouth to speak.

"You have to leave now. Heal and come back. Take down X.A.N.A.!"

Odd knew something was up with how Ulrich was talking. It sounded much bigger than just a "goodbye see you later."

Odd forced himself to sit up. He unwrapped his tail (tourniquet) off his old injury and put it around his bleeding gut. The Cat then reached up and yanked on Ulrich's hand, pulling him down to his level.

"Wh…what are you plan…ning? I won't lea…ve if you're planning on be…ing stu…pid."

"Odd. I never _plan _on being stupid. You should know that by now."

Ulrich's eyes were still teary. As his vision blurred, he could hardly focus on anything.

_I'm sorry. Hah. Said it again…already. _

Ulrich detached his hand from Odd's and stood back up.

"Jeremy? Now."

"O…okay I'm almost ready. Just a few more seconds."

"Ul…rich I'm coming back."

"I know."

"I'm coming back for…you."

Ulrich tears began again and he gently smiled as he shook his head.

Odd's heart stopped. He quickly reached out for Ulrich. Smile never leaving his lips, Ulrich took a few steps back away from the desperate hand.

"Okay. Ready. De-virtualization. Odd." Jeremy hit the key and began the de-virtualization process.

"Ul…rich. PLEASE!" Odd screamed as his body started fading.

Odd watched as he feet, legs, and hands began to disappear. The Cat looked back up just, in time, to see Ulrich pierce himself with his own sword.

"Ul…ULRICH! Wh…NO!" Odd reached out to Ulrich only to see his hands were gone.

Ulrich choked on his own blood and looked towards his fading friend. He remembered back to last night...that peaceful night. Their _last_ night..

"_Hey Odd ever wonder what happens to us if we were to die on Lyoko."_

_They both lay next to each other inside the hollow tree. _

"_What? How could you think about something like that? We won't be here long enough for that to happen. Trust me."_

_Ulrich shifted his body so he was lying on his side, facing Odd. Odd did the same._

"_I do trust you. I know you'll get away. Odd can do anything."_

"_Haha! Come on Ulrich! You can do so much more; so much better than me! We'll both make it."_

"_Odd. You know William did something to me back there. I can feel it." _

"_I'll protect you Ulrich. I won't let X.A.N.A have you." _

_Odd gently placed his hand over Ulrich's and squeezed. _

"_I'm gonna get you out of here. Promise."_

_Ulrich smiled._

"_Even. If we do die here. We'll do it together. You die. I die." _

_Ulrich stared at Odd. He had so much confidence and trust in not only himself, but Ulrich as well. _

"_Sure Odd. We die together. No matter where. Virtual or Reality."_

_The two warriors fell asleep hand in hand. _

"Odd. So…rry, but you can't die here with me. You ha…ve much to do. Come ba…ck and de…feat X.A.N.A. not only for me, but for Ly…oko…for our fri…ends!"

"I CAN'T! NOT WITHOUT YOU ULRICH!" Odd had never cried so much in his life.

"Odd. You are a Lyoko War…rior. We all ha…ve an obli…gation to pro…tect Lyoko and the wor…ld from X.A.N.A. I couldn't do it. I had to get rid of the stro…ng vess…el X.A.N.A wanted so bad…ly."

"But…Ulrich. I can't…not without you. I can't do ANYTHING without you!"

"You can live with…out me Odd. I know you ca…n. You are my best f…friend."

"You're so much more to me than my best friend Ulrich! Please…I…I lo-"

Odd vanished from Lyoko as Ulrich fell to the ground submerged in both puddles of blood.

**(A/N) (Sigh) I'm quite proud that I managed to do a longer chapter and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Tearing up... I don't really know exactly where I'm going with this, but a NEW CHAPTER SHALL COME SOON. promise. ^_^ REVIEW please. It makes my fingers type! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Ten - Re-living Past Seconds**

_Blood. There is so much blood. Odd stood looking at the crimson ground beneath him. He looked at his body; there weren't any wounds. _

"_Where did all this blood come from?"_

_Odd was in the forest sector again, but not anywhere near a way tower. He had no idea how he had gotten there. _

"_I thought I was de-virtualized…"_

_He began walking. Everything he saw seemed so familiar to him…not just because they've all been there before; fighting X.A.N.A. Odd reached a hollow tree, he knew he had been here before. As he entered the tree, he heard something that made his whole body jump._

"_Ul…ULRICH! Wh….NO!"_

_Odd knew he heard those screams before and that that voice was his own. _

"_Wait…ULRICH?! Where is he? What happened to him?"_

_The cat ran towards the familiar screams. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw himself lying on the ground surrounded by blood; his own. Odd looked at what the "other Odd" was looking at and he collapsed. Ulrich had stabbed himself with his own sword. _

"_ULRICH!" _

_Odd stood back up and ran towards himself and Ulrich. He put his arms around Ulrich and felt nothing but air…cold air. _

"_Why am I here? What happened? What the hell is going on?!" _

_Odd was frustrated that he had to re-live the worst moment of his life. Knowing he couldn't do anything to stop what has already happened, he backed away and just watched. _

"_Odd. So…rry, but you can't die here with me. You ha…ve much to do. Come ba…ck and de…feat X.A.N.A. not only for me, but for Ly…oko…for our fri…ends!" _

"_I CAN'T! NOT WITHOUT YOU! ULRICH!" Odd had never cried so much in his life._

"_Odd. You are a Lyoko War…rior. We all ha…ve an obli…gation to pro…tect Lyoko and the wor…ld from X.A.N.A. I couldn't do it. I had to get rid of the stro…ng vess…el X.A.N.A wanted so bad…ly."_

"_But…Ulrich. I can't…not without you. I can't do ANYTHING without you!" _

"_You can live with…out me Odd. I know you ca…n. You are my best f…friend." _

"_You're so much more to me than my best friend Ulrich! Please….I…I lo-"_

_Odd dropped to his knees and cried as Ulrich fell to the ground in the pools of blood. _

"_Ul…Ulrich. I'm so sorry. Ulrich. DAMMIT! ULRICH!" Odd screams echoed throughout the forest._

_The Cat slowly stood and looked down at his best friend. His eyes were slightly open, but showed no life. Ulrich was dead. His best friend was dead. His Ulrich was dead. That very thought filled Odd with unimaginable agony. He couldn't take it…living without Ulrich. _

"_X.A.N.A I don't care what you do, but you will die. By my hands…you will die."_

_He looked back down at Ulrich._

"_I'll only need five minutes. Just five minutes and X.A.N.A...you will be dead."_

**(A/N) I know I know...it's really short. I meant it to be this short...but just to make sure you're not too disappointed I wrote the eleventh chapter right after writing this one so I could upload two chapters. That one is a regular chapter. Hope you enjoy! REVIEW! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Eleven - Eight Minute Death**

_Odd continued walking through the forest sector. He still didn't know why he was here or how he got here. He didn't care. _

"_X.A.N.A! WHERE ARE YOU? SHOW YOURSELF! WILLIAM!" _

_He searched through every part of the forest sector, but didn't find and enemies or William. As he looked around he realized there weren't any way towers, even the digital sea was gone. Just a black thickness was beneath the forest sector. _

"_Okay. I'm starting to think this isn't Lyoko…or the correct Lyoko anyways. If this isn't the real Lyoko then maybe Ulrich isn't dead…"_

_Odd ran off to where Ulrich had fallen. He was trying so hard not to get his hopes up, but failed.  
He's okay. He's okay. He's okay._

_He had finally reached the spot where Ulrich is…was. _

"_He's gone…but where is he?!" _

_Odd looked all around to find some trace of Ulrich. He took a deep breath in, but he couldn't smell a thing…not even the air had a smell to it. The Cat went off into a frantic search of his best friend._

"_Someone or thing must've taken his body. Damn them! I'm getting him back!"_

_A wave of déjà vu came over Odd. _

"_Trying to get him back again? Really this is pathetic I should've just handcuffed us together." _

_Odd smiled. _

_As he reached the same spot covered in blood again, he knew he failed in his search. Odd sat down next to the two puddles of blood. He reached out and touched Ulrich's blood pool. When his hands made contact with the blood his whole body got shocked._

"_Wh…What the hell was that? Did I get electrocuted…by blood?" Odd quickly jumped up and backed away from the blood. He was shocked again._

"_OW! What is that?" Odd quickly looked around trying to find the source that was causing him pain. _

"_-dd."_

"_What? Who's there?!" Odd yelled. _

_He was shocked again. _

"_Dammit! I'm getting pissed." _

"_-dd! Odd!" _

_He turned around looking for the person or people calling his name. Shocked again. _

"_Ow. I'm getting used to it." Odd said with a chuckle as a bright light came towards his face._

"_What is that?" Odd said; walking towards it. Shocked again. _

"-dd! Odd!"

* * *

Odd slowly opened his eyes and was blinded by the bright lights that hung from the ceiling.

"We got him back. He's going to be okay." A man in a white coat said.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Yelled two girls.

Odd's vision was starting to clear up. He saw two people in white coats on one side of him and three kids on the other.

"Odd. How do you feel?" Said the woman in the white coat.

"Wh…what are you…?" Odd whispered.

"Odd?! Can you hear me? Are you okay?" Yelled a boy.

"He'll be okay. He's just confused. We need to let him rest." The man said as the two people in white coats left the room.

Odd just groaned.

"Is he going to be okay Jeremy?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah he should be fine. They were able to stop the bleeding…I think he's just delirious."

"I wonder what happened on Lyoko. That seems to have had some affect on Odd's condition as well." Aelita explained.

Suddenly Jeremy's laptop began beeping. Its alarms were going off from a disturbance in Lyoko. Jeremy, Yumi, and Aelita all ran back to the computer turning their backs to Odd.

"What's happening Jeremy?" Aelita asked.

"I don't know I can't see any enemies. I thought it would be easier since I fixed the fogged screen."

"It's okay Jeremy. At least you did fix the screen. Now you might be able to fix the screen so we can go back to Lyoko." Yumi said.

"Your right Yumi. I may be able to fix it now, but first we need Odd to heal up before any of you go back to Lyoko we still don't what X.A.N.A could do. We need to find Ulrich-"

_CRASH_

"What the..?" They all spun around to find Odd walking out the door with machines dragging behind him.

"ODD?!" Yumi yelled running after him.

Odd didn't bother taking out the IV or taking off the heart monitors. He wanted out. He needed to move. He had to go to Ulrich.

"Odd what are you doing?" Jeremy asked as he stood in Odd's path.

"Getting Ulrich." Odd whispered.

"What? You can't yet Odd. You're still hurt." Aelita said, worried.

"Yeah Odd come on back to your room. You need to heal." Jeremy said putting his hands on Odd's shoulders.

Odd looked at Jeremy then looked past him towards the door. He continued walking.

"ODD! Stop!" Yumi and Aelita both yelled.

Jeremy was now pushing on Odd's shoulders trying to get him to stop. It was like Odd was in a trance…he was too strong for Jeremy.

"Odd. You can't go to Lyoko! STOP!" Jeremy pleaded while being pushed back.

Aelita stood behind Jeremy, pushing on him…pushing on Odd. Yumi got behind Odd and wrapped her arms around his small waist and pulled.

"Please Odd. We can't lose you too. X.A.N.A has Ulrich, but they would kill you. X.A.N.A wouldn't kill Ulrich. So please stop…!" Yumi begged.

Odd halted to a stop. He put his hands on Jeremy's wrists and took them off his shoulders. Odd then turned to look at Yumi straight in the eyes.

"Your right. X.A.N.A wouldn't kill Ulrich…but Ulrich is much str…stronger then X.A.N.A." Odd said through falling tears.

"What does that mean Odd? What happened?" Jeremy said grabbing Aelita's hand.

Yumi stared into the glossy eyes of her friend.

Odd took her hand and walked back to the room. Jeremy and Aelita followed hand in hand.

Jeremy helped Odd back onto his bed and the girls sat down in nearby chairs. Jeremy stood back, leaning against the window.

"What happened after you told us you had a plan? Did your plan work?" Jeremy asked.

"I ran and ran until I found Ulrich. My plan was to try and get X.A.N.A out of Ulrich."

"How were you going to do that?" Aelita asked.

"Well if I could get Ulrich to take back his body then maybe I could then help him get rid of X.A.N.A all together. Of course that wasn't the case though. Ulrich was stronger then the X.A.N.A specter that was inside of him…sometimes it was easy to take back his body. Other times it became too much to hold the possession back. While he had his body, Ulrich told me to shoot him because the bug wouldn't protect him if X.A.N.A wasn't in control…"

Yumi gasped.

"Don't freak. I didn't shoot him…I actually snapped at him. I wouldn't shoot him. So I asked him why he wanted me to and…Ulrich told me everything…"

"_Why did you want me to shoot you anyways? What good would that do? You'd be dead."_

"_When X.A.N.A possessed me I could see everything. His thoughts. The thoughts that were going through my head as well as William's. It's like two possessions are two different X.A.N.A's, but the possessions are just a small part of the X.A.N.A. All the thoughts I had going through my head were his plans…"_

"_What plans? Does it have anything to do with needing another recruit? Needing you?"_

"_Yes. He had been keeping track of the Lyoko Warriors and our abilities. Our strengths; weaknesses. He knows everything about us and he's had his specters spy on us while we're here training or de-activating a tower. X.A.N.A's always been in the back somewhere…just watching us."_

"_So…why you? Why not Aelita? She's been a major part of Lyoko itself." _

Jeremy cut in.

"That's true. Wouldn't Aelita be the better candidate for X.A.N.A's recruit? She is a part of Lyoko itself. She and her father are." He looked at Aelita, she nodded.

"I asked the same thing myself Ulrich answered saying…."

"_Even so she doesn't have my strength; my abilities. She has been on Lyoko most of her life, not knowing anything because her memory was all messed with. Aelita didn't go through the hard times life can give you. That, itself, made me stronger that all of you."_

Yumi hung her head. Ulrich had never made it necessary to talk about his life…or the problems in his life that is.

Odd continued.

"_Anyways as I was saying, X.A.N.A was looking for the strongest Lyoko Warrior to take for himself and he knew it'd be a tough possession process because of the strength I've built up to repel his possession. My own theory, but I'm guessing that's why it hurt so much…and why William dropped me. That, and the pain from the possession attempts, made me weaker."_

"Is there an end to this…please?" Yumi asked quietly gripping her knees.

"Hang in there Yumi. This is hard for all of us, but we need this information." Jeremy explained.

Odd continued on to the more difficult part to talk about.

"_Ah yeah that did make you pretty vulnerable, and that's when he implanted the X.A.N.A possession itself. All this is very informative, but it doesn't answer my question. Why did you want me to sho- kill you?"_

"_Well remember when I said William and I being possessed is like having two X.A.N.A's in our bodies? Since they both have different thoughts it made me think of "how many X.A.N.A's can there be? What if he comes after you guys?" _

"_Okay? So there could be a lot more X.A.N.A's. That happened before when more than one person was possessed at the school."_

"_Alright. Fine. I found out something from the part of X.A.N.A that is possessing me now."_

"_Okay…and?"_

Odd fell silent.

"Odd please keep talking." Jeremy asked while looking out the window.

Odd looked up at Aelita and she had a gentle smile on her face.

"_What is it Ulrich?" Odd began walking towards Ulrich. _

"_As you know, the X.A.N.A that's possessing me now is just a small part of the real X.A.N.A. That's why it's easier to take control of my body again. When I was possessed, William/X.A.N.A was talking to me…he said…" Ulrich flinched._

"_What? Does it have anything to do with X.A.N.A's plan? For why he took you?" Odd said now anxious._

_Ulrich nodded and continued talking._

"_Yes it does. William didn't know I had taken control of my body again. He said the part of X.A.N.A possessing me was just to keep me here."_

Odd looked over at Yumi who had been shaking before. She had completely froze.

Odd hurried to finish his explanation.

"_Just to keep you here. What does that mean? He's just keeping you prisoner?" Odd's fists clenched._

"_For now yes. With X.A.N.A inside me Jeremy wouldn't dare de-virtualize me. He'd want to keep X.A.N.A in Lyoko. So it was perfect for X.A.N.A. With the work of the bug in his favor X.A.N.A had won and he was able to keep me."_

"_Why does he want to keep you here? Just to have you?" Odd grimaced._

"_No Odd. It's not that type of possession." Ulrich gagged._

"_So why then?"_

"_The little part of X.A.N.A inside me now is to keep me from being de-virtualized. The reason he wants to keep me here is so X.A.N.A, himself, can possess me when he's ready." _

Odd's body shook as he finished his story. He hated talking about it. It was like he was re-living the whole thing over again.

"So the _real _X.A.N.A wants his body for a permanent vessel?" Jeremy said in a deep voice.

"You have to fix the bug Jeremy! Then we're going to get Ulrich out of Lyoko." Aelita said without looking up from the ground.

Jeremy slowly nodded then quickly spun around. He walked towards Odd a put his arms on his shoulders.

"Wh…what Jeremy?" Odd asked confused.

Jeremy looked straight in his eyes.

"Ulrich said he stabbed you. He's the one who told us to call an ambulance and to de-virtualize you."

Odd nodded unsure of where this was going.

"He sounded like he wasn't possessed. Did he stab you while he wasn't X.A.N.A?"

Odd snapped.

"WHAT?!" He smacked Jeremy's hands off his shoulders and jumped off the bed.

"I'm just making sure we're able to save him. If he turned too much…we won't…-"

_PUNCH_

Jeremy was on the floor holding his cheek. Odd looking down at him…no longer seeing his friend.

"Don't ever say we can't save him. I'll do it without you. I'll die before I leave him there as X.A.N.A's vessel."

Jeremy jumped back up to Odd's height.

"YOU DID DIE ODD! ULRICH WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED YOU! Do…don't you get what we went through when you fell out of the elevator completely covered in blood? We thought you were dead…and to make it worse you died on the way to the hospital. You were dead for a whole eight minutes. We were in complete AGONY for eight minutes. Losing two of our best friends in one day!" Jeremy screamed while tears descended from his eyes.

He could no longer see…even with his glasses. Jeremy removed his glasses to rub his eyes. Odd looked at him and the girls; they were all crying again. The young boy looked at the ground feeling stupid for thinking he'd been the only one who had been hurt.

"A…at least you're alive Odd." Jeremy said with a sniffle as he pulled Odd into a hug.

Odd continued to look at the ground as two more pairs of arms wrapped around his body.

**(A/N) Sweet Sweet friendship. Where did Ulrich's body go...is he really dead? Where did Odd go when he died? Who knows? I don't even know yet. I'm not much of a planner... :) I really didn't think this story would come as far as eleven chapters. I just haven't found the right way to end it yet...mainly because I don't want it to end. BTW I know the yaoi in this is pretty much just fluffy stuff, but it will improve. Odd and Ulrich have just been a bit busy...with X.A.N.A, the world, and Lyoko. Yeah I'm rambling now so please enjoy and review. :))**


	12. Chapter 12

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Twelve - Truth**

Two weeks later.

Odd was pacing his room. He was frustrated that his friends were still in his hospital room. Even more frustrated that _he_ was still stuck here, recovering.

"Please sit Odd." Aelita said pointing to his bed.

"How can you guys be so calm right now? Don't we have work to do?" Odd just about lost it.

"Yes Odd. We all understand your frustration, but X.A.N.A won't hurt Ulrich since he needs him." Jeremy explained while typing on his laptop.

Odd hung his head and quietly walked back to his bed.

_I should've told them what had happened to Ulrich. Well now is better than never._

Odd lifted his head and looked at Yumi. She was staring at her phone, going through her pictures. He noticed that she stopped at one particular picture and smiled. Odd knew all to well what picture had locked her gaze.

_I'll tell them later._

"Says the coward…"

"What?" Aelita asked.

"No…nothing. Just talking to myself." Said Odd as he stretched out on his bed.

"You tired?"

"No I'm-"

(_yawn)_

"Sure. Take a nap Odd." Aelita reassured.

"No. I don't want to sleep. I can't." Odd said with sorrowful eyes.

Aelita was confused by his statement. She decided to help him; she dropped some sleeping pills in a cup of water then handed it to him.

Odd didn't think Aelita would resort to trickery so Odd took it without question.

"We'll still be here when you wake up." Aelita added with a smile.

"I'd feel better if you weren't. Wait. Wha-" Odd said; drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_Odd woke up to find himself, once again, back in Lyoko. Only this time he was in the mountain region. _

"_Jeremy! DE-VIRTUALIZE ME NOW!" _

"_Dammit. I remember this." Odd took off running in the direction of his friend's screams. _

_The Cat stopped when he spotted William, Ulrich, and another Odd. _

"_Great. Another me again. Which means I can't interfere with this…I'm leaving this time I don't want to see any of this again." Odd said as he turned around to enter a way tower. _

_BUMP_

"_Ow. Why can't I enter the tower? What's going on?" He turned back to look at the scene...that started everything. Odd only saw himself fighting William. William still had his arm up as the other Odd got in his face-_

"_NO! I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS AGAIN!" Odd knew what was going to happen next so he took off running in the opposite direction. _

"_Let Ulrich go you damn monster!" Odd yelled in Williams face. _

_Odd ran and ran, but he soon realized that he hadn't moved an inch. A barrier prevented him from leaving the area. _

"_WHY DO I HAVE TO KEEP WATCHING THIS!? I know what I did…I could've saved him. I should've caught him. I TRIED! DAMMIT! DOES THAT MEAN ANYTHING?!" Odd screamed at the sky as though it was his enemy. _

"_ULRICH!"_

_That scream of his would never leave his heart. He thought he would be used to that at least…he wasn't. _

"_Why did I have to scream? What good did that do except traumatize me…?"_

_Odd gave up on trying to leave the mountain sector. He sat down beside his fallen friend and covered his ears._

"_Why can't you ever be "sitting" when I'm with you? You're always just lying there. Completely motionless…" Odd thoughts were interrupted as the entire mountain sector vanished beneath him._

_As the mountains disappeared, the trees appeared. Odd was now in the forest sector. _

"_Great. I'd rather be in the mountain sector." Odd stood and started walking. He knew exactly where he was supposed to go…and he didn't fight it._

"_Might as well get this traumatizing event over with." _

_Odd was stopped suddenly by the barrier. It didn't want him going any further. He was shocked to see the hollow tree, the last place he was with Ulrich. _

"…_Hey Odd."_

"_Yeah? What is it?"_

"_Thank you."_

_Odd almost fell back. Even now it still shocked him, he had no clue why. _

"_Even though I was unconscious…it was weird, but I could still hear you clearly. You wouldn't leave me, even though the bug made it more real…even though Jeremy wanted you to de-virtualize, you stayed. So thank you. You really saved me this time." _

_He loved hearing his voice again. The real Ulrich. _

"_I can't believe I left you here alone Ulrich. If your even still here." Odd said holding back an intruding tear. _

"_You okay? Didn't expect me to say "thanks?" Ulrich said through a smirk._

"…_Heh. Yeah that surprised me." Odd said with his usual smile. _

_Odd laughed. He sounded so pathetic when he was talking…he didn't hide his shock very well. _

"_I should've told you right then. That was the perfect…well almost perfect moment. If I had known that it would all go down hill after that I would've said exactly what I was feeling. Even if I didn't know exactly what I was feeling. Dammit even without you here I still can't talk right. I now know what that feeling was and after trying so hard to make it seem like nothing…I failed; so I accept it. I just hope you'll be able to give it- us a chance." _

_Odd continued watching Ulrich talk. Then looked at himself trying to think about what he meant by his words. He laughed._

"_I look stupid when I'm thinking." _

_Odd looked back at Ulrich and saw that he was now thinking hard about something…then suddenly giving up. _

"_I wonder what he was thinking about."_

_FLASH_

"_What?!"_

_Odd jumped up as another scene appeared in front of him. He was still in the hollow tree, but it was the night he had that nightmare. _

"_What the hell was that?" Odd said still panting._

_The purple Cat jumped on top of Ulrich and began shaking him._

"_W…what are you doing Odd?!" Ulrich yelled as he fought off his, strangely, stronger friend._

"_What happened Odd? Are you okay?" _

"_Nothings wrong I just had a bad dream. Heh Lyoko has dreams now." _

"_Odd." _

_Odd's heart betrayed him as tears began falling down his face. He didn't like the scene before, but for some reason this one moment pulled at his heart more than anything. He watched as Ulrich fought him off, but couldn't because he was too weak. That realization, itself, hurt. _

_Ulrich put his hand under Odd's chin and lifted his head. The look in Odd's eyes said everything he needed to know. _

"_You're worried about me."_

_Odd walked out of the hollow tree. He didn't want to watch anymore. _

"_Wherever you are, you damn bastard…why are you showing me this? I've seen it already. I don't want to relive my mistakes. I see it every time I close my eyes. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO SLEEP!"_

"_I know your agony, but you can't outrun what has been done." _

_Odd quickly spun around to find Ulrich standing behind him. _

"_Ulrich?!" Odd said with clear confusion._

"_Is that the name of this face? I know nothing of the body I wear."_

"_What? The body you wear? Who are you?" _

"_Some call me by the name of Truth. Although some would wish to see things as lies. You, however, call me by the name Bastard."_

_Odd fought to hold back a chuckle. It was funny, to him, seeing Ulrich talk like this. _

"_Anyways, why are you showing me this every night? This is the reason I don't like sleeping anymore. I used to love sleeping…every where I went. It was one of the things I was best at." Odd bragged._

"_I'm not responsible for showing you these events. I remain, unseen, in the background to help guide you through these, as you would say, mistakes. Your friends have told you that what happened to this man was not your fault. Even so, you still think you did this…that you are to blame. Why is that?"_

"_I was the only one here with him. I was the only one able to help…save him. I had to, but I failed. I left him here alone. If I had been stronger he wouldn't have had to do what he did. I should've-"_

"_Stop! You say that it was your duty, alone, to rescue this…Ulrich from the danger that came for him?"_

"_Yes. I was the only one on Lyoko at the time. I, alone, had to protect him."_

"_That's where you failed. You weren't the only one who tried to save this man. You may have been the only one with Ulrich, physically, but three other people were always there. Unseen, in the background, protecting you. The right course of action to take at that time was to return home, before Ulrich could cut himself down, fix the computer, regroup, and strategize. Instead the friends which you failed to rely on, had to hear this Ulrich say he stabbed you and he requested an ambulance. Then after a long day fighting and protecting the same person on Lyoko, they returned your bloody, tattered, body to this world. You gave it your all trying to protect and save this friend of yours, but at the end of the fight your friends still made sure you got back alive…even Ulrich."_

_Odd fell to his knees. He now knew why this "thing" appeared to him. His mistake wasn't that he failed to save Ulrich; it was that he failed to save Ulrich by failing to rely on anyone else for support. He wasn't the only one wanting to get Ulrich back. He wasn't the only one fighting. _

"_Even if all you said is true…I still failed them all. I have go back to Lyoko even against everyone's wishes." Odd whispered._

"_Why return to Lyoko when this…Ulrich is dead? What's left for you there?"_

"_I have to go back. To finish what Ulrich started…to finish X.A.N.A, himself." _

"_In order for you to return to Lyoko…you must be healed."_

"_I can't wait any longer! I have to go back now!" Odd yelled as he stood back on his feet._

"_Ulrich" shook his head and smiled._

"_I'm guessing that would be the reaction your friend would give you."_

_Odd was stunned by Truth's statement. _

"_Odd Della Robbia, you have a strong heart, but you cannot fight this threat on your own. I will heal the remaining wounds you have."_

"_Really? You can heal me?! Where the hell were you earlier?!" _

"_Even when you return to Lyoko I will remain unseen by all, but I am willing to do this one thing for you."_

"_Why would you do this for me?" _

"_Like X.A.N.A, I am a part of Lyoko. As you would refer to him as the "evil" part I am to be known as the "good" part of Lyoko. Others would mention us as brothers even twins."_

"_Can't you help us defeat him then? Since your both a part of Lyoko, you could really turn this around." _

"_No. I will not fight against my own. That is why I stay behind. I will not fight against X.A.N.A and he will not fight against me. It's not in our nature to fight against our own kind."_

"_Okay then don't help. Can you heal me?" _

"_I will. Let me tell you this Odd Della Robbia…"_

_Odd nervously shifted on his feet._

"_I will not allow you to return to Lyoko without telling your "friends" the truth. As I have told you…you must tell them." _

"_The truth? About what?" Odd knew exactly what he meant._

"_If you can't lie to yourself…what makes you think you would be able to lie to me?" _

"_I can't. Not to Yumi. It's too-"_

"_Difficult? I would imagine it will be. You may not go through this fight again without the complete support of your friends. I will not allow it, mainly because you would not survive it."_

"_Fine. I'll tell them." Odd wouldn't look Truth in the eyes. _

"_If you fail to complete your side of this agreement, I will return your wounds and you will cease to exist in the world known as Lyoko." _

"…"

"_Good. Now wake up. You've wasted enough time."_

"_What? How long have I been asleep?" _

"_I would think it been at least two no three days."_

"_WHAT?!"_

"_You said you've been fighting the song of sleep. So yes it's been three days. You should be well rested."_

"_Dammit. Wait…song of sleep?"_

"_Indeed. It's the song you hear just before you enter the land of the dreamers."_

"_Is that where I am?" _

"_Indeed. Enough talk Odd. You must return for you have worried your friends once again."_

_Truth turned away from Odd and began walking towards a way tower._

"_Great. Wait one more thing!"_

"_Yes?"_

_"Why are you in Ulrich's body?"_

"_Must you ask?"_

"…"

"_Such as X.A.N.A does not have a physical body, neither do I. I had to retrieve one."_

"…_.is that Ulrich's real body then?"_

"_If I said yes would it matter?"_

"…"

_(sigh) Truth turned back to face Odd. He had expected to see an angry or sad expression, but Truth saw nothing…his face was completely blank. Truth pointed behind Odd._

"_Wh….what?" Odd turned and saw two pools of blood._

"_See now Odd?"_

_Ulrich's body was missing. _

"_Wait how long have you been in his body?" Odd asked with a frantic tone._

"_Since the last time you came here Odd."_

"_That's why his body vanished last time? You took it?"_

"_Yes."_

_Odd fell to his knees with his hands on the ground. He let all the tears he had pour out. _

"_So…he really is dead. I thought since it vanished that he was aliv-"_

_Truth knelt down and lifted Odd's chin so they were eye to eye._

"_Odd. Don't misunderstand. If I "Truth" take possession of this body, that keeps my brother from obtaining what he needed to reach his goal. I told you that I could not go against my own kind. This way I'm not fighting nor going against my brother…not completely anyways." Truth winked._

"_Thank you Truth. I still don't know why your doing all this."_

"_Like I said Odd. I'm "good" and X.A.N.A's "evil." Of course I would automatically side with you. Another thing, since I'm wearing the body my brother wants, it'll give you time to regroup and return. I will help you any way that I can, but you won't see me because I must protect this bod- Ulrich from those who wish to have it for themselves." _

_Odd nodded as Truth helped him to his feet. _

"_Now return and tell them the truth. I will know if you don't."_

_Odd nodded as the forest and Truth, Ulrich, disappeared._

* * *

Odd woke up to find his room still inhabited by his friends.

"Wh…?"

"Hey Odd you were asleep for awhile. How do you feel?" Aelita asked with a look filled with concern and guilt.

"Probably would've woken up sooner if I wasn't DRUGGED!" Odd yelled then began laughing.

Yumi and Jeremy quickly joined in and soon followed Aelita.

"Yes Aelita it was a good rest."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Yumi asked puzzled.

"What? Why do you ask?"

"It looks like you were crying." Yumi said pointing to his cheeks.

Odd touched a hands to his face. Some of the stains were still wet.

(sigh)

"What is it Odd?"

Odd touched his stomach and didn't feel the sting of pain.

_Okay. Truth kept his end of the deal. My turn…_

Odd gulped. He didn't want to tell them. He didn't want to hear his voice telling this story for he had seen it too many times.

"This is the last time I'm going to relive this moment…"

"What do you mean Odd?" Yumi asked.

"Jeremy. Aelita."

Odd looked at Yumi.

"…Yumi."

"What is it Odd?" Jeremy asked, concerned.

"I made a deal with the "good" part of Lyoko."

"What?" Yumi and Jeremy said in unison.

"The "good" part? You met Truth?" Aelita asked, shocked.

"You know him?" The three said in unison.

Aelita nodded her head and asked Odd to continue.

"Uh yeah I met Truth which is pretty much the opposite of X.A.N.A. We made a deal that he would heal me so I could return to Lyoko to destroy X.A.N.A's true form…"

"Okay and what do you have to do?" Jeremy asked.

"In order for me to return to Lyoko and to be rid of my wounds; Truth told me that I must tell you, my friends, the truth."

"The truth?" Yumi asked.

"Yes the truth about what happened to Ulrich."

The hospital room became engulfed in a wave of absolute silence.

**(A/N) Yes I did completely ramble in this one. I'm not proud of this chapter, but glad that I got another one done. Wonder how Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi will take the "truth" about Ulrich. Who know's? I don't. :) Anyways...I've been trying to make my chapters longer...but as you can see I mess the chapter up by rambling. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed otherwise. REVIEWS ARE NECESSARY FOR THIS TO CONTINUE. jk. I'll write it anyways, but chapters'll come more often if I know people like it. :) **


	13. Chapter 13

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Thirteen - I Failed. We Failed.**

"…"

"We're waiting Odd." Jeremy said; poking Odd in the face.

Odd's expression was as blank as Yumi's. He didn't want to talk about what had happened and he knew Yumi didn't want to hear it.

_Just get it over with Odd. _

Odd took a deep breath and slid off his hospital bed. He continued to walk until he reached the window.

"Please Odd. Tell us." Aelita pleaded.

Odd looked at Aelita and Jeremy. They were holding hands with anxious looks on their faces. Odd then dared to look at Yumi. Her face was still blank, but he could feel her body tense. He turned back to look at the window and leaned his forehead against the glass.

"Jeremy. Aelita. Yumi."

"What is it Odd?" Aelita was the first to speak up.

"You know I tried to get him back right? I fought and fought just to get him home…but-"

Yumi's body started to shake.

"Odd. What happened?" Jeremy asked as he stood.

"Ulrich was my best friend. You know that? Right? I really did try to save him!" Odd yelled at his reflection in the window.

Jeremy walked to where Odd was and placed his hand on his shoulder. As soon as Odd felt Jeremy's hand on him he quickly spun around.

"YOU KNOW THAT I TRIED! RIGHT?!" Odd screamed in Jeremy's face as he grabbed Jeremy's hands and fell to his knees.

Jeremy fell with him to the floor. He was confused as to why his friend kept asking the same questions he'd been asking himself. By that time, Aelita and Yumi had joined them on the floor.

_Dammit. This is so much harder than I thought it be._

Odd sat on the ground surrounded by his concerned friends, still holding Jeremy's hands.

"Odd. We all know what you're going through. We tried to save him too." Jeremy tried to make it sound as reassuring as he could.

"Th…that's not it." Odd whispered; he was now panting.

"Then what's wrong Odd? What happened?" Jeremy asked; now even more confused.

Odd quietly looked at Yumi. Her blank look had been replaced with concern for her friend. Odd knew it would soon become distorted in a wave a sorrow...or anger.

"I'm so…sorry." Odd sniffled.

Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi all looked at each other than back at Odd again.

"When I was being de-virtualized, after Ulrich stabbed me, I turned back to look at Ulrich…and…"

Odd thought he was going to be sick…he didn't want to finish. He squeezed his eyes shut at the same time he squeezed Jeremy's hands.

"Odd?"

_I have to say it or I can't go back to Lyoko…_

Odd took another deep breath.

"When I looked back at Ulrich, I-I saw…I saw him stab himself with his s…sword."

Just as he expected, Odd's eyes once again betrayed him. He quickly noticed he wasn't the only one crying. Yumi and Aelita had, almost, instantly joined in. Jeremy was completely stunned...frozen in place.

"I-I'm sorry. I trie-"

SLAP

Odd was cut off as Yumi's hand struck his face. He would've fallen back if Jeremy didn't have his hands.

"Yumi?! What are you doing?!" Jeremy, once again stunned, grabbed Odd.

Yumi stood; staring down at Odd. Her eyes were overflowing with agonizing hatred for her "friend." Yumi bent down so close to Odd's face, that their noses where almost touching.

"You've been out Lyoko for how long now?! And it never occurred to you that we would want to know this?! You had to be bargained with by Truth to be able to tell us, your friends, about Ulrich? HE ISN'T JUST YOURS ODD!"

Odd knew this wouldn't end well, but he never expected this.

"Yumi stop it! This was as hard for him as it was for us. Just imagine what he went through. What he saw! It must've been terrible for him to experience that, let alone keep it to himself." Aelita said as she was pushing Yumi back to her chair.

Odd was now shaking as Jeremy helped him to his feet. His face stung. His heart stung. He could feel the overwhelming guilt taking over.

_I'm sorry Yumi. It should've been me instead of Ulrich. _

Jeremy walked Odd back to his bed and Aelita got a wet cloth for his face. Odd could still see the tears falling from their eyes. To his shock, Yumi hadn't shed a single tear.

"Y-Yumi? I'm sorry. I did everything I could."

"Apparently not."

"You sound like I meant for him to do that. He did what he did so X.A.N.A couldn't have his body as a vessel. He was stronger than any of us, X.A.N.A included."

"I know how strong he is Odd. What I can't understand is why YOU would let him die?!"

Odd's eyes fell to the floor. Jeremy and Aelita were now sitting on the window seat, hand in hand, quietly sobbing.

"Tell me why Odd."

"Why?"

"WHY YOU KILLED HIM?!" Yumi jumped from her chair and screamed in his face.

Odd had never been that scared, of Yumi, before. He didn't like that feeling. This wasn't his friend. This wasn't Yumi. Erasing his fear Odd snapped.

"WHY DO YOU THINK I KILLED HIM IF HE STABBED HIMSELF? WHY? JUST BECAUSE I HAPPENED TO BE THERE AT THE SAME TIME? YOU COULD'VE BEEN THERE INSTEAD OF ME AND I WOULD NEVER ACCUSE YOU OF KILLING HIM! So you tell me why Yumi."

"I could've been there. I should've been there instead of you. I wouldn't have let him do it…you did. When I got de-virtualized that last thing I said to you was…what Odd?!"

Odd thought back to their fight against William.

"_Jeremy did Odd get de-virtualized?" Aelita asked quietly._

"_No…he didn't Ae…Aelita." Jeremy said through his tears. _

_I bet it's hard to completely listen to that on full volume… Aelita thought to herself. _

_Yumi picked her head up to look for Odd. Instead of looking behind or to the sides of her she got this feeling and just looked straight…that's where she saw Odd, on his feet running towards William and Ulrich. Yumi smiled and continued crying._

"_ODD PLEASE SAVE ULRICH!" Yumi screamed as she began to de-virtualize into the air._

Odd's face quickly changed from anger back to guilt.

"Yeah. You failed." Yumi leaned away from his face and started walking back to her chair.

Odd caught her wrist.

"What Odd?!"

"You."

Odd's eyes shot up to look at hers.

"What?"

"You failed Ulrich too Yumi."

Confusion covered Yumi's angered expression.

"If you hadn't been de-virtualized then you would've been with us at the end. You could've done something when he stabbed me. You could've saved him."

"That's not-"

"Wait a second. We weren't the only ones there now were we? If Aelita hadn't gotten de-virtualized then all of us would've been there to save him. Oh yeah and Einstein. He could've virtualized himself to help when it was just me on Lyoko, but no. You got de-virtualized. Aelita got de-virtualized. And Einstein stayed back to help you two and fix the computer. So that leaves me."

Yumi, Jeremy, and Aelita were completely silent.

"I could've and would've saved Ulrich if he hadn't stabbed me. Now who's fault is that-"

Yumi lifted her other hand. Odd caught her wrist as it was about to strike his face.

"It was X.A.N.A's fault. It was and has always been his fault. He took Ulrich. He de-virtualized you and Aelita. He fogged the computer screen. He made Ulrich stab me. HE'S THE ONE WHO MADE ULRICH WANT TO STAB HIMSELF!"

Yumi dropped her hands. Odd still held her wrist.

"Ulrich is the real victim in all of this. We all tried to help. We all failed."

Aelita's tears started up again as Jeremy held her. Yumi looked back at them then at Odd. She looked at the red mark on his face; she began crying. Odd quickly pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him as she continued to cry.

"I-I'm so…sorry Odd." Yumi sniffled in his ear.

"It's okay Yumi. We're going to get him out of there. I promise." Odd whispered.

Yumi tightened the grip she had around Odd. She knew he meant what he said. She always knew.

**(A/N) I know this one is short, but this one was just to show what happened when Odd told them about Ulrich. :( SAD! Another chapter coming soon! REVIEW please. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Fourteen - Powerful _Mixed_ Emotions**

Minutes, that felt too much like hours, passed; before Yumi lessened the grip she had around Odd.

"S…so what do w…we do now?" Yumi said through sniffles.

"Not sure. Jeremy?" Odd asked; looking up at Jeremy.

"Well, now that you're all healed up and we, now, understand the situation better, I think we can first start by getting you out of the hospital." Jeremy said; still holding Aelita's hand.

"…and? Then what?" Odd asked.

Everyone in the room could feel Odd's frustration level rising. They exchange looks before deciding Aelita should be the one to explain.

"Odd please. Be reasonable. We _are_ planning on going back to Lyoko, but not until the bug is fixed. You know? The one X.A.N.A made that would harm us in Lyoko and here."

"All in all- it's too dangerous to venture into Lyoko without Jeremy destroying that bug. That's pretty much what you're trying to say right?" Yumi asked; her eyes fixated on Aelita's.

Aelita nods.

"Great. So what's first Einstein?" Odd asked; trying to keep his cool.

"We'll talk strategies back at the lab. First, we need to get there. Yumi go sign Odd out. Aelita go get his doctor. Odd and I will pack up our things."

"Okay." The girls said in unison.

* * *

About thirty minutes later Odd's doctor came back with Aelita.

"Why did that take thirty minutes!? Yumi went and came back in two!" Odd said; jumping off his bed.

"I'm sorry for the wait Odd Della Robbia. Let me have a look at you." Said the Doctor.

He quickly checks over his previous injuries and sees that they've completely disappeared.

"Wha-"

"I'm a fast healer. Always was. Can I go now?" Odd says quickly, in one breath.

"Uh…sure. Yes you seem…uh good. Sure you may go." The Doctor called in his nurse to take off the heart monitors and the IV. The nurse then left the room and came back with a wheelchair.

"What is that for?" Odd asked completely confused.

"You must leave in a wheelchair. Just in case you pass out or feel weak." Says the nurse as she waves Odd over to sit in the chair.

Odd quickly glances at the others and they nod their heads.

"Hahh…fine." Odd sits in the chair and is pushed to the front exit of the hospital.

"Please don't come back Odd Della Robbia. Have a good day!" The nurse exclaims as they walk out the door.

"That's rude." Odd says crossing his arms.

"Not really Odd. She says that because-" Jeremy stop when a hand is placed on his shoulder.

"No bother in explaining Jeremy. Doubt he'll even understand that." Yumi giggles.

"Your right." Jeremy, Yumi, and Aelita burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny? What? What did I do?" Odd asks; clearly not getting the joke or that their laughing at him.

* * *

After a few more miles and lots of laughing, they finally reach the abandoned factory. The quickly swing down the ropes and rush into the elevator. As soon as the door opened, Jeremy is out, already starting up the super computer.

"Okay guys since I was able to fix the fogged screen and the alarms that came with it, I am pretty sure I'll be able to fix the bug that X.A.N.A created." Jeremy explained in a rush.

"Sure Einstein. Just make it snappy. I hate waiting." Odd said as he slid down the wall behind Jeremy's chair.

"I'll try. Aelita help me run some diagnostic scans to trace the bug."

"Right." Aelita pulled up a nearby chair and quickly started up Jeremy's laptop.

"So I guess we leave it to them then?" Yumi said; sitting down next to Odd.

"Guess so." Odd said looking at Yumi.

She looked exhausted. When was the last time she actually got more than two hours of sleep?

"What? Why are you looking at me?" Yumi whispered.

"Wh…what? I wasn't. Just wondering-"

"What!?" Yumi; almost yelled.

"When was the last time you actually slept?"

"Like a decent goodnight sleep? Probably the day before we went to Lyoko."

Odd thought back to how long ago that actually was.

_Feels like it's been forever since I've been to Lyoko…since I've seen Ulrich._

"Wait. That was a little over two weeks ago Yumi! You haven't slept since then!?"

"I did sleep a bit when Aelita _put_ you to sleep. Other than that maybe a few minutes here and there."

"Damn Yumi. Why? Did Jeremy and Aelita sleep at least?"

"Yeah _they_ did. I just couldn't. It was too…too-"

"I get it Yumi. I didn't want to sleep either, but I didn't get to have a choice in the matter." Odd said glaring up at Aelita.

"Heh Odd you really needed your rest. You were hurt."

"So were you."

Odd and Yumi stayed silent after that just staring at each other. Even after losing Ulrich, Yumi was happy to at least have Odd come back to her in the end.

"I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier Odd…back at the hospital. I shouldn't have said what I said."

Thinking back, Odd clearly felt the stinging pain come back in his cheek. Without realizing it, his hand went up to hold his face, as if it still hurt. Yumi felt regret and sadness overwhelm her. She quietly placed her hand on the hand that held Odd's cheek, turning his face so that he would look at her, while grabbing the other and inter locking their fingers.

"What?" Odd was stuck, completely frozen by confusion. He didn't know what would happen next or what Yumi was thinking.

As if reading his thoughts, she smiled. She gently pulled his hand off his, once hurt, face and kissed his, once red, cheek.

"Thank you Odd. I cannot even imagine what I would've done without you. I hurt you, even when you tried to help. I hurt you, even when you saved Ulrich. I guess deep down I felt hatred towards myself because I _couldn't _save Ulrich. Even more hatred towards you when you could."

"But I didn't." Odd whispered.

Yumi's smile lessened when she saw a single tear escape Odd's notice. She quickly wiped it away with her hand, which was still cupping his face.

"Odd. You did all you could to save him; which was more than I could do. It would've been a lot worse if you hadn't been there."

"Thank X.A.N.A for the bug then." Odd chuckled lightly after realizing that was a bad joke.

"I guess." Yumi added a quiet giggle.

She took her hand from Odd's face and placed it on her other hand that was still locked with his.

"A…at least you got de-virtualized before the bug took affect. You didn't have to experience the _real_ Lyoko."

"I wouldn't have minded too much if I was still there with you…and Aelita."

"I didn't like it much when I had to watch William hurt Aelita. So I'm glad you _weren't_ there."

Yumi smiled at Odd as she shyly put her head against his shoulder.

"I think I might take a nap. Wake me if anything happens." Yumi whispered; her grip tightening on Odd's hand.

"Okay. G'night." Odd whispered in a voice that came out in a stutter.

Odd feels weird. He has _never_ held hands with Yumi, well not this long or this way, before. She loved Ulrich not him. Odd loved…well not Yumi. This felt very wrong to Odd in many ways, but he did little, to nothing, to change it. He was tired; too tired to _do_ anything more than close his eyes.

* * *

_"-dd!"_

"_What? Where am I?"_

"_Odd!"_

"_Yumi? Jeremy? Aelita? Where are you guys?" Odd screamed at the darkness that surrounded him. _

_He quickly spun around and saw a light entering, what seemed like the entrance to a cave, the dark hole he was in. _

"_ODD!?" _

"_Who the hell is that?" Odd ran outside the cave and saw he was back in Lyoko; in the mountain region; outside a cave. _

"_Odd? There you are." _

_Odd looked at who was calling his name. _

"_Ulrich? Wait no. Truth? Was it?" Odd asked; faced twisted in confusion._

"_Yes. Truth it was." Truth could clearly tell when the relief and excitement faded from Odd's face when he realized it wasn't Ulrich. _

"_Why am I here again Truth? What do you want and what is happening here?" Odd quickly got out the questions he wanted to know. He no longer felt like talking._

"_I called you here. There is an urgent matter I need your help with and it could not wait. Please Odd. I ask for your assistance." Truth said completely calm._

"_Really? And what do you need my help for?"_

"_Yes really. X.A.N.A is trying to recapture my vessel…Ulrich's body. He still wants this boy's strength and abilities for his own." Truth whispers in a frustrated tone._

_Odd's face turns from excitement to disappointment to immediately pissed._

"_Why does he STILL want Ulrich? I thought if he was your vessel X.A.N.A couldn't have him._

"_He cannot take what is mine; your right. Ulrich may be my vessel for a time but soon he-"_

"_For a time? You're going to drop him as your vessel? You CAN'T do that! X.A.N.A'll be able to take him back then won't he!?"_

"_Odd-"_

"_I thought you were going to help me by protecting him. Until Jeremy is able to de-virtualize his body and bring h…him home." Odd says quietly._

"_Odd. Listen to me. For X.A.N.A and I to take over a body and keep it as our vessel we must first weaken the current host. X.A.N.A demanded that William should take his strength and crush his will by any means necessary. That is why he was able to finally take control of Ulrich's body, when he dropped Ulrich from the wall is took his strength along with the previous possession attempts."_

"_But why did all that hurt Ulrich so bad? That was before X.A.N.A activated the bug right?"_

"_Remember Odd, your friend Jeremy said Ulrich didn't have any life points when William was attacking him right? That was because he was already under the bugs affect. Ulrich felt all pain and agony way before the bug made its way through Lyokos whole system."_

"_Jeremy said there weren't even zero points. Nothing was there. What does that mean?"_

"_Besides already being under the bugs affect, it meant his life was in Williams/X.A.N.A's hands."_

_Odd sat down. He hated William. He hated X.A.N.A. He hated Lyoko. The overwhelming hatred he had for this place made him sick to his stomach. _

"_Odd?"_

"_What could I possibly do to help you Truth? I mean really?"_

"_You and your friends need to return to Lyoko in the forest sector and protect this…Ulrich from X.A.N.A. He will send his best warrior again to collect his vessel."_

"_Okay and just how are we supposed to protect Ulrich from X.A.N.A?"_

"_You will fight. You will fight William and X.A.N.A and all who he dares to toss at your feet."_

_Odd slowly gets back on his feet and faces Truth. _

"_What if Jeremy can't fix the bug? I could die. My friends could die."_

"_You were willing to stay here before even though the bug affected you. "It doesn't matter how much blood leaves this body. I'm not leaving him." Those were your own words Odd." _

_Hearing his words come out of Ulrich's mouth in Ulrich's voice made him flinch._

"_Ah okay. I get that, but I don't want my friends getting hurt. I had to watch William attack Aelita as I fended off krabs and hornets. I couldn't get to her. I don't know if I could do that again."_

"_Odd. Your friends, Jeremy especially, were forced to listen to their two best friends dying and in pain. Jeremy never turned off his headset. Do you honestly think you felt worse then he?"_

"_N…no. It's ju-"_

_Truth was clearly starting to get irritated, which was new to him._

"_Last time you chose you venture into the forest sector of Lyoko with Ulrich, alone. You tried to rescue him and keep him safe all by yourself and where did it get you Odd Della Robbia? You lying in your own blood watching your best friend, whom you deeply care for, stab himself with his own sword."_

_Odd just stared blankly at the ground. So he continued…_

"_You cannot do this alone Odd. Even if they're in pain and dying, it's better for them knowing that they are all with you by your side. It's the same for Jeremy too. I think even he'd come to Lyoko in a last dying effort to be with his friends…to be with Aelita. Love is a powerful emotion Odd. There is nothing that can fight it…nothing that can win against it. You should know that."_

_That made Odd blink out of his blank stare. _

"_Love?"_

"_Yes. Love isn't something that can be held within one person, alone."_

_Odd looked back up at Truth and stared at his/Ulrich's eyes. _

"_Love?"_

_Truth slowly nods his head smiling the gentlest smile Odd has even seen on Ulrich's face._

"_Wow."_

_Truth's smile fades._

"_What is it?"_

"_Nothing. I just need to get Ulrich's body back."_

"_Yes you do. Now wake up and inform your friends of what I've told you."_

"_Okay. Truth one more question."_

_"Odd?"_

"_I get X.A.N.A wants his body for his strength and abilities and all that, but doesn't X.A.N.A care that his vessel is…dead?" Odd choked out the last word._

"_Come here." Truth said waving Odd to come over._

_Although hesitant, Odd starts walking towards Truth. _

"_What?"_

"_Place your hand here." Truth said pointing at his/Ulrich's chest._

"_Wh-"_

_Truth, now impatient, grabbed Odd's hand and put it on his/Ulrich's chest holding it there._

"_Ah okay. Now what? I feel your heart beat." Odd asked; confused._

"_Since I am not part of the "living" world you call reality, I do not have a heart beat."_

_Odd steps closer to Truth, as if he was in a trance. He can't even speak…no words could describe the emotions he can feel overflowing his body. _

"_Y…you have a heart beat. You HAVE a heart beat!" Odd yelled; face enlighten with the biggest smile. _

"_That I do Odd, but it isn't mine."_

"_How's that even possible Truth?"_

"_I can say when I first found Ulrich's body he was, in fact, dead. The sensation my possession sends to the vessel gives off a sort of shock, you could say. As I took him as my vessel the shock of my form entering his body must've revived him. I only realized this yesterday, after running from some hornets, that I had a heart beat. I was elated."_

"_I can't believe it. You saved his life Truth!" Odd said; quickly throwing his arms around Truth._

_Truth began feeling a warm wet feeling on his shoulder. He smiled and hugged Odd back. They both slid to the ground holding each other as Odd cried out his many "thank yous" he had to Truth. _

"_Your wel-"_

_Truth suddenly fell limp in Odd's arms. He was overheating like he was sick with a fever._

"_Truth!? What's wrong?" Odd said panicking._

"_I…I can't hold Ulrich's body anymore. At first he was healing and n…now it seems as though the X.A.N.A curse is still within him. I can't-"_

"_Part of X.A.N.A is inside Ulrich with you? That's too much!"_

"_It's not as big as it was during William's ritual, but y…yes it's still there getting stronger."_

"_How's it getting stronger?"_

"_I don't have the time or strength to explain all this now Odd. You must come to Lyoko. I'll hide for now, but I won't be able to keep Ulrich safe for long." _

_Odd's body began shaking as he held Truth/Ulrich's body, once again, in his arms. He had to leave him…again._

"_I will be back."_

_Truth nodded._

"_I'm coming back for you."_

"_He knows you are…"_

_Odd watched, stunned, as Truth's eyes slowly closed. He carefully lifted Truth and carried him into the cave, where Odd woke up in. He laid him down and took his hand and got tangled in his fingers._

"_You'll be safe in here for now. I'm not sure this cave even exists, but I'll find you. I promise Ulrich."_

_He squeezed his hand, unable to let it go. Odd watched him sleep, imagining it was completely Ulrich and not Truth. He gently brushed a piece of hair out of his face; his hand lingered on Ulrich's face longer than he expected it to._

"_Love?"_

* * *

"What? What did you say Odd?"

Odd woke up to Yumi shaking his body, already asking him questions.

"Wha…what is it Yumi? Huh? YUMI?" Odd yelled as he quickly looking around.

He was awake and back in the factory. With Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi. Still holding Yumi's hand…still holding-

"Ah!" Odd screamed as he jumped up. He detached his grip from Yumi's as fast as he could. It felt even worse then it did before.

"Odd? Are you okay?" Yumi asked standing up.

"Y…yes, but guys Truth came to me again in my dream!" Odd yelled running over to Jeremy and Aelita.

"WHAT? What did he say?" Aelita exclaimed.

"Long story…short; we need to go to Lyoko now. It's urgent."

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked.

Odd looks at Jeremy and Aelita then back at Yumi.

"Ulrich's alive."

Again silence filled the room.

Yumi fell to her knees and cried. Aelita and Jeremy jumped up and hugged. Odd helped Yumi up off the ground and hugged her.

"Th…thank you Odd."

"Stop thanking me. You know I didn't do anything."

She slowly stepped back away from Odd and wiped her eyes.

"Odd. Answer something for me."

"Anything Yumi."

"Before you woke up…you were talking in your sleep."

"Y…yeah."

"Well you kept saying Ulrich's name…"

"Yeah Truth was telling me about Ulrich-"

"You also kept saying the word "love."

Odd couldn't answer. He didn't even know if he had an answer to give. If he did he didn't know what it was.

**(A/N) MERRY CHRISTMAS! Here's a new chapter as a present for you!I'm sorry it took me awhile to write this one. I really didn't know how to start this chapter. And yes I did ramble on in this one a bit...sorry about that too. I try really hard not too, but it does seem to keep happening. Anyways...seems as if there will be further conflict between Odd and Yumi. Just when they were getting along "so well." Anyways HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS! A new chapter will be out as soon as I write it. I ACCEPT REVIEWS AS CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! Thankyou. :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Fifteen - Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst**

Without a single word uttered, Odd's mouth hung open. Sure enough he felt the panic start to set in. He didn't know what to say or how to get out of this one.

"Odd." Yumi says stepping towards Odd.

Jeremy and Aelita were now interested as to what Odd's answer would be. Feeling their stares at his back and Yumi at his front, he stepped back. He was surrounded.

"W…we have to get to Lyoko! Why are you guys wasting time!?" Odd blurted out as the panicked sensation rose, making his body feel very warm.

"I'm upgrading all your equipment to its highest defense settings since X.A.N.A's bug is still in effect. So we have a little time before that'll be done." Jeremy explained eyeing Odd's strange facial expression, which was a mixture of nausea and panic.

_Great. That's just great. I'm STILL in this position._

"Answer me Odd. Why did you keep saying the word "love" with Ulrich's name?" Yumi said confusion masking her rising anger.

Odd was sick of her getting mad at him. It seemed like everything he said or did would make her mad; they were fine just a few minutes ago!

"Uh…Truth was talking about Ulrich and that the best way to save him and defeat X.A.N.A was through the love we all had to our friend. That we'd do a…anything to save him. So yeah…love." Odd stuttered through his explanations. He was proud he thought of these on the spot.

Still Yumi looked unconvinced. She crossed her arms and gripped them tight like she was about to lose them. Odd felt bad for lying, but this was no time to fight over Ulrich…when he's not even in reality.

_SHOCK_

"AH!" Odd suddenly fell to his knees gripping his head in pain.

"Odd!" Aelita jumped from her chair and darted towards Odd with Jeremy in pursuit.

"Are you okay?" Yumi asked as she knelt next to him. It was obvious she was trying to keep her distance. Odd didn't care about that at the moment. All he could think about was the stinging pain pulsating throughout his head.

"What the hell was that?" Odd asked whoever.

"Could it have been X.A.N.A?" Jeremy asked; talking to himself.

"X.A.N.A's not here Jeremy. The super computer would've sensed it." Aelita explained while she rubbed Odd's back.

_SHOCK_

"AHH! WHAT THE HELL!?" Odd screamed bending over; head touching the floor.

"Jeremy do a scan for X.A.N.A! Quick!" Aelita commanded; holding onto Odd as he shook with pain.

"_O…dd!" _

"What?" Odd asked looking up at Aelita.

"What is it Odd?" She asked, confused.

"You didn't call me?"

"No. No one did. What are you hearing?" Aelita asked, now concerned.

"My name. Someone's calling my na-" Odd lost the fight to stay conscious.

"Odd!"

_SHOCK_

"_DAMMIT! WHAT'S DOING THE SHOCKING THING TO ME!?" Odd screamed at a…white…nothing._

"_Wh…what? Where am I?" _

"_You should be used to this by now Odd." _

_Odd spun around to find a barely standing Truth still in Ulrich's body._

"_I don't think you shocked my head's insides last time. What am I doing here again? Wasn't I just here?"_

"_Hahh welcome back." Truth said panting. _

"_Truth? Are you okay?" Odd gasped running over to help keep him up._

"_That's unimportant."_

"_Wait where am I? This place looks different from before. It doesn't look like Lyoko or any part of it."_

"_Actually it is a part of Lyoko. It's were I tend to dwell. Are you coming soon? It's getting more catastrophic here by the second."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_"Just as Jeremy is making you more upgraded and powerful…X.A.N.A is doing the same to his minions including William."_

"_Great like he wasn't difficult enough when he was lame. Wait wouldn't that make the X.A.N.A offspring inside you MORE powerful too?"_

"_Offspring? Anyways, yes it is getting more and more powerful as we speak. You have to get here as soon as possible."_

"_We're coming when our equipment is done upgrading. Can't you hang on a little bit longer?" Odd asked while trying to get Truth to sit down. _

"_I can try, but remember Odd I'm not the only one fighting the specter inside. Since Ulrich's alive, his body is also being attacked by this intrusion. The specter wants me out. That itself is tearing both of us apart." _

_Odd's face dropped like he'd lost all hope in the world. He hated that even now, when Ulrich is supposed to be protected and healing by Truth, he still has to fight. He couldn't understand why it seemed as though everything was against him…and Ulrich. _

_Truth placed a shaky hand on Odd's face and turned it towards him so he'd snap out of whatever thoughts held him captive. _

"_Don't cry Odd Dell Robbia. Hope isn't lost. You can still do this. You, with your friends, can stop X.A.N.A and return home with your Ulrich." Truth smiled as his hand fell from Odd's wet face. _

_Odd hadn't realized he had been crying, and he really didn't care. To many emotions overflowing his body and mind at one time can have this effect. He was so angry and sad at everything that had to do with X.A.N.A. _

"_I'm coming for you Ulrich. Be ready." Odd whispered as he gently laid Truth on the ground and stood._

"_H…he's been ready O…dd." Truth said in barely a whisper. _

"_See ya Truth. I'll be back. Try to hang on until then." Odd said as he waved and walked into the endless white nothing. _

_Truth nods then passes out, waking Odd._

* * *

"Odd? Are you okay?" Aelita asked, helping him sit up.

"Yeah I'm fine. It was just Truth's way of communication." Odd said still feeling remnants of pain in his head.

"Truth again? What did he say this time?" Jeremy asked as he continued typing on the super computer.

"He said to come as soon as possible. X.A.N.A's getting stronger and juicing up all his friends including William."

"We pretty much expected that though. Was that all he said?"

"Well no, but-"

"Just spit it out Odd." Yumi spat.

"O…okay. The part of X.A.N.A that took control of Ulrich before is still inside him which is where Truth is too."

"So their both inside Ulrich!?" Aelita asked, alarmed.

"Yes. Truth said that Ulrich's still fighting against the specter."

"If what you said is true and X.A.N.A's strength is increasing I don't know how long Ulrich may have if Truth and the specter are fighting inside him." Aelita said; helping Odd up off the floor.

"It seems really bad we need to get there now!" Yumi said almost choking on her words.

"We feel the same as you Yumi but-"

"You better not feel the same as me."

Odd couldn't speak. He was hurt and scared at the same time. Why is Yumi always against him? They were fine just a few minutes ago.

"What does that mean Yumi?" Odd asked without realizing and quickly regretting it.

"What do you think it means? You lied to me."

"What? How did I lie to you?"

"About the "love" thing. Did you honestly think I wouldn't be able to tell?"

"Well it _did _take you _this_ long to tell." Odd didn't know where these snappy outbursts were coming from. He's never spoken to Yumi like this.

"Odd-"

"Guys! Come on! We don't have time for this. Fight later. We all need to be a team for this." Jeremy yelled without looking away from his computer screen. He quickly glanced over at Aelita. He knew that Aelita was thinking the same thing when the thought of Odd liking or even loving Ulrich came up, but there wasn't any time for that right now.

"Whatever. Anyways, how do we know we can trust this Truth character? He has Ulrich in is grasp. What makes you think he wouldn't take his body straight to X.A.N.A when he's healed?" Yumi asked still enraged by Odd's last comment.

"What are you talking about!? Truth is healing him. He's the one that revived Ulrich's body when he was DEAD. Of course he can be trusted." Odd yelled as close to Yumi's face as he would risk. All this was surprising him, but he was serious.

"Yeah we haven't even met him yet. Why hasn't he taken all of us to where you go?"

"He's too weak and he could barely even stand let alone zap all of us there."

"Yumi remember that he's the opposite of X.A.N.A." Aelita added quietly.

"I know that's what he said, but that's also what X.A.N.A could've told him to say-"

"DAMMIT YUMI!" Odd yelled punching the nearest wall and feeling the quick pain flow throughout his entire fist.

"W…what?" Yumi asked shocked at Odd's reaction.

Odd shook off the pain in his hand and walked towards Yumi until her back hit the wall.

"Truth can be trusted because (1) Ulrich was DEAD and HE REVIVED him (2) He's been warning us about everything X.A.N.A's been doing and planning and (3) He told us to work together to save him and that he would help as much as he could to bring X.A.N.A down. So tell me…what makes YOU think he can't be trusted?"

Yumi, mouth agape, didn't say a word. Odd sighed and continued.

"Is it the fact that Truth only calls me? That he only brings me to see him in Ulrich's body? I was wondering that same thing. Like why wouldn't he bring Aelita at least ya know? Then I realized I didn't care because he revived Ulrich and is now protecting and healing him. He doesn't have the energy to bring different people in and out so he brought me. Just me. I think that's why you're really pissed off. Isn't it?"

"Back up Odd."

"Isn't it!?"

_SLAP _

_PUNCH_

Odd and Yumi's cheek turned a slight pink color. Aelita had slapped Yumi and pulled her away from Odd while Jeremy did the same to Odd, only with a hard punch.

"Odd. We can't be doing this right now. Stop provoking Yumi when you know how she feels and has felt about Ulrich."

"Tell that to her. She's the one getting all over me for nothing. I haven't done anything and she's been complaining and slapping me since I came back. When I've been the in-between for Lyoko and here. What has she been doing other than bitching?"

"ODD! Enough. In order for us to get Ulrich back, alive, we all have to-"

"-be a team." Aelita whispered to Yumi. She could see the anger and sorrow brewing in Yumi's eyes.

"I'll do it-"

"-for Ulrich." Yumi and Odd murmured in unison; eyes locked on each other.

* * *

Jeremy did a quick pat on Odd's shoulder and returned to the computer.

Alarms began go off throughout the factory.

"What's going on Jeremy?" Aelita asked running over to Jeremy.

"It's X.A.N.A. He sent out William. He's on the move."

"Where's he headed?" Odd asked; already knowing the answer.

"To the mountain region."

"That's where Truth is. We have to go now!" Odd said running to the elevator.

"Jeremy is the equipment ready?" Aelita asked running after Odd.

"Uh y…yeah almost."

"Almost?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah only Odd and Yumi's upgrades are complete. Aelita, yours is still in progress."

Jeremy had anticipated the looks he got from both Yumi and Odd. But Aelita too?

"What? It's almost done it'll just be a few more minutes."

"How many minutes is a "few." Yumi asked, sighing in aggravation.

Aelita shook her head, also getting somewhat frustrated.

"Exactly forty two minutes left until the upgrade is complete."

"Forty two!? That's a "few" to you?" Odd exclaimed, still pushing the elevator button.

"Pushing it over and over won't make it come faster." Yumi said slapping his hand away from the button.

"Everything I do is just so wrong in your eyes isn't it?" Odd said in the most sarcastic voice he could muster up.

Yumi sighed in an even more aggravated manner than before.

"Odd. Yumi. Stop." Aelita said stepping between them.

"Yeah guys you have to go to Lyoko now, while Aelita waits here for her upgrade to be finished. So it's just you two and we can't afford to screw this up. Your lives aren't the only ones on the line." Jeremy said never looking away from his screen.

"Since when does an upgrade for anything take forty two minutes? I think the whole computer should be upgraded a few years." Odd said with a light smirk.

"Odd." Aelita said crossing her arms. Yumi did the same.

"Ah. Okay then. Ready…Yumi?" Odd murmured.

The elevator finally arrives and Yumi steps in without a word. Odd follows. The doors close.

Both Aelita and Jeremy sigh. Aelita walks back to Jeremy and places her hand on his shoulder. The sudden contact makes Jeremy stop typing.

"It's okay Aelita. They'll be fine. Their still friends and their fighting for the same reason." Jeremy said smiling at Aelita.

"I know, but this is the first time we've ever had to do something as important as this. Any of us could die today Jeremy. We could lose a friend, if not all of them." Aelita said as the tears start up.

"Don't think like that Aelita. We'll be fine. I fixed the fogged screen so I'll be able to help more. I can de-virtualize you guys if something goes bad."

Aelita flinched at the "bad" part. Jeremy turned his chair and pulled her into a hug.

"We'll be fine. We're bringing Ulrich back. Even in this life and death situation, we'll win this time."

Aelita embraced Jeremy as she hoped for the best.

In the elevator, Yumi and Odd hadn't spoken a word. They had the same thing in mind.

_Save Ulrich. Bring Ulrich home…Ulrich._

Suddenly feeling the nerves of the upcoming battle, Odd slowly inched his hand out towards Yumi. To his surprise, Yumi did the same and their hands met; fingers intertwining.

Yumi squeezed Odd's hand preparing for the worst.

The elevator doors open. Their hands part and they enter the virtualization pods.

"Yumi Virtualization."

"Odd Virtualization."

Eyes closed, their bodies are engulfed in flashes of white. They open their eyes again to see nothing but virtual mountains. Odd looks down and sees he's holding Yumi's hand. Yumi's expression quickly changes from blank to rage. Odd looks in the direction of her enraged gaze and see's William riding on the back of a Manta, surrounded by megatanks and krabs, with Truth/Ulrich slung up over his shoulder.

The same rage that filled Yumi's body flowed in between their connected grip and into Odd. He could feel her hatred and anger towards the creatures...towards William The Cat knew she was ready to fight. Yumi looked over at Odd and nodded. Releasing her grip she had on Odd's hand, she charged towards William and his army. Odd stood in place and watched Yumi run to Ulrich, as if the whole scene was in slow motion. The thoughts that invaded his mind stung his heart. Despite the pain emanating from his chest he ran.

"ATTACK!" William yelled thrusting his sword into the air.

The final battle had begun. Odd didn't know if it was his cat instinct, but he felt like something was going to happen…something bad. This fight would be their last chance. He looked over at Yumi, her face was determined. Her thoughts only on Ulrich. His thoughts were pissing him off. He was ready to fight something...anything. To his utter shock, a single tear slid down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.

_I knew it. I can't do this._

"She loved him first." Odd whispered as he followed Yumi into battle.

**(A/N) I know this one is shorter I really tried to extend it, but it had to end. Yes there. Anyways I like the fighting between Odd and Yumi. I don't know why, hehe. Odd's learning he has a backbone in that tiny figure of his. Also is Odd giving up on loving Ulrich? The next chapter will be the big fight, but I can say it WILL NOT be the last chapter. Also sorry this chapter took awhile I had a little bit of Writer's Block, I didn't know how to start this chapter. BUT I OVERCAME IT! Next chapter coming soon! Happy New Year! :) REVIEWS are required for me to continue writing. jk. They'd be nice though. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Sixteen - Hang On**

The battle had begun.

William thrusts his sword into the air, commanding his army of megatanks and krabs to charge at the oncoming enemy.

Yumi, running towards the herd of Lyoko machinery, readies her fans for attack with Odd close behind. Both arms up, he's ready. The Cat keeps his eyes locked on the army's leader, William.

Odd shakes his head. He no longer cares to save the X.A.N.A puppet anymore. If William gets in the way of rescuing Ulrich...Odd will do what he has to.

"ODD! GO LEFT! DISTRACT HIS ARMY! I'M GOING AFTER ULRICH!" Yumi commands as she goes right.

Odd huffs, but obeys. He goes left to quickly be surrounded by krabs and megatanks. He didn't think they'd all attack him at once, but he didn't care. The only thing Odd was concerned about was getting Ulrich/Truth out of here…alive.

"Okay…1…2…8…9…10…1…2…5. Only ten krabs and five megatanks…perfect. This should be...time consuming." Odd sighs and automatically starts shooting out a wave of laser arrows.

After his upgrade he could now hold about 1500 arrows. Even so, he tried not to miss. The Cat then stops again to count, but was cut off by megatank powering up right behind him. He quickly leapt into the air to land on top of a nearby krab. Instead of shooting it himself, he decided to tease the megatank into attacking. It worked of course.

"I thought they got upgraded too; they're still as stupid as ever." Odd laughed to himself as he targeted another megatank and krab.

* * *

"ATTACK!" William yelled, again, thrusting his sword into the air.

Yumi does just that and attacks William, throwing her fans, hitting the arm holding the sword. The bug still having no effect on X.A.N.A's minions his arm just fades in and out with no sign of blood.

"Okay. This will definitely be a one-sided fight." Yumi said, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

William looks at his arm then back at Yumi and laughs.

"AHAHAHA! You fool! Why do you even bother? WE'VE WON!" William yells tightening his grip on Ulrich.

Once she caught her fans again, Yumi's stance changes back into attack mode. She slowly points at Ulrich, still slung up around William's shoulder.

"This?" William cocks his head to one side. Yumi nods.

"None of this would be happening if you would only return what's ours."

"Are you really trying to bargain with X.A.N.A? He wants…_needs_ this vessel."

Yumi quickly looks over at Odd, still fighting the herd of enemies. Then back at William, regaining her fighting stance.

"Unless you know of someone stronger?" William whispered so only Yumi could hear.

Her eyes gazed back over at Odd once more.

* * *

"Damn krabs! 1…2…-"

Odd's counting was put on hold by a sudden laser attack by another krab.

"Damn krabs! I'M TRYING TO COUNT!"

Odd runs straight up the side of a mountain with the krabs and megatanks in quick pursuit. He lands at the top of the mountain looking down at the pooling monsters…and counts.

"Okay…1…2…3…"

"Odd? What are you doing?" Jeremy asks.

"Counting how many enemies I have left. Yumi up and left them all to me."

"But-"

"Einstein please…counting."

Jeremy sighs.

"Okay only 5 krabs and 3 megatanks…hah only…"

Odd jumps into the air above the group below and begins his endless shooting. Aiming then shooting, he saw the five krabs explode; leaving the 3 megatanks.

"Krabs are definitely easier to hit since they have a target on the top." Odd mumbles landing on his feet behind the last remaining enemies.

"Three more then I'm off to help Yumi." Odd says, determination setting in his eyes as he attacks.

* * *

Blood pooling down by her feet, Yumi doesn't give up. She uses a ribbon and wraps in around the blood gushing gash on her leg. Back in a fighting stance, she lunges straight at William. She throws her fans as she lands on top of the manta with William.

"Foolish little-" William gasps.

"Shut up!" Yumi yells kicking the sword out of William's hand.

Yumi fights hand to hand with William, trying to get a hold of Ulrich. William releases another blade that was hidden under his wrist, slashing Yumi's waist. At the sight of more blood, her blood, she hesitantly retreats. She lands back on the ground and quickly tends to her bleeding waist.

"You can't win this battle Yumi. You can't even harm me." William says with an evil grin.

Yumi stands there eyes locked on Ulrich's body. She holds her hands out, waiting for her fans to return.

"GIVE UP!" William snaps.

Suddenly Yumi's fans fly toward the manta hitting it right on top. The manta lets out a screech then disappears, dropping its rider. The fans return to Yumi's grasp. William, now eye level with Yumi, drops Ulrich's unconscious body to the ground. He summons his sword once again along with his smaller wrist blade and charges towards Yumi.

_Ulrich…I hope your okay. I…I think I've lost too much blood. I can't…_

Yumi gasps as her vision starts to fade; she sees a dark figure running towards her holding a large sword in the air. She drops her fans and falls to her knees.

"YOU DIE NOW YUMI!" William screams, throwing his sword straight at Yumi's vulnerable body.

_This is it. Goodbye Ulrich. _

She lifts her head back up slowly to see the blurred figure of the sword coming closer and closer. Then a sudden flash of purple and a familiar voice woke her from her defeat.

"YUMI! GET UP!" Odd screams, jumping in front of Yumi's collapsed body.

Impatient, he quickly throws Yumi on his back and summons his shield, the upgraded shield surround their bodies, deflecting the sword. William catches his sword and, again, rushes his enemy. He starts attacking Odd's shield over and over trying to get through. The relentless attacks from William's sword push Odd back, making it hard to keep the shield up and carry Yumi at the same time.

"Damn he's tough." Odd struggles to keep calm.

"O…Odd why did you-"

"I finished early with the "army" William had. No more came so I came here to help you. Good thing I did. What the hell was that Yumi? You gave up!"

"I can't-"

"Never say that. Not here. Not now. We have to save him. I _can't_ do it without you."

"I know I'm sorry Odd."

"We need to break away from him and wait for Aelita to come. I wonder how much longer she'll take."

"..."

"I SAID I wonder how much longer she'll take."

"..."

"EINSTEIN!"

"Wh…what is it Odd?"

"You sleeping or something?"

"No Odd. I was trying to fix the "bug" and at the same time I'm analyzing Aelita's upgrades. What do you need?"

"How much longer will her upgrades take?"

"The upgrade will be complete in fourteen minutes. Then I'll virtualize Aelita into Lyoko."

"Great. Fourteen minutes it is." Odd grins and sets his eyes onto William.

"Is that all you got William Dunbar? We're just getting started."

William yells into the air and attacks Odd's shield again throwing Odd and Yumi to the ground.

"ODD!" Yumi yelled, trying to get to her feet.

"YUMI STAY BEHIND ME!" Odd commanded pulling her behind his back. He slowly stood.

William smiles and walks towards Odd, closing the gap. He places both hands on Odd's shield. Turning his head as if listening for something, he knocks on the shield. William nods and stabs the shield with his smaller wrist blade. The blade penetrates the shield causing it to crack, where William just knocked.

"O…Odd?" Yumi whispered in a worried tone.

_Great._

"AHAHAHA goodbye you foolish warriors." William laughs pointing behind the two.

Odd and Yumi slowly look back and notice they are near the edge of the digital sea. Odd gasps, as he sees the shadow of a sword rise up. The Cat spins around to come face to face with William's sword. Right before the blade made contact with the shield, without thinking, Odd grabbed Yumi by the arm and threw her as far away from the attack as he could. Yumi landed near a group of rocks and slid to hide behind one. She wasn't hurt, but she was close enough to feel the strength behind William's attack.

"ODD!" Yumi screamed, gripping the rock.

The dust cleared revealing a torn up and bleeding purple cat just near the edge of the digital sea.

"ODD!" Yumi screamed again, hoping to get a reply.

William looked back at the sobbing Yumi and sent her a devilish grin before turning back to Odd. The injured Cat was lying on his side with his back to the edge. His uniform was torn up and stained with the feline's blood. The worst wound being on his right thigh, it was bleeding the most.

"You awake kitty cat?" William whispered, nudging Odd with his foot.

William stabbed the ground with his sword and knelt down to see if Odd was alive. He waved his hand in front of Odd's face. He was breathing.

"Damn. You just won't give up. You shouldn't have saved her. These "friends" make you weak." William spat pointing at Yumi. Sighing, he stood and put one foot on Odd's waist.

"Goodbye. Odd Della Robbia." William murmured, pushing Odd off the edge.

As soon as his body went over the edge, Odd shot up grabbing William's legs. William gasped and fell to the ground.

"Faking? You're too weak to take me down so you're just going to pull me in with you?" William asked playfully smiling.

"Needing someone doesn't make you weak." Odd says quietly digging his nails into Williams's legs, making sure he doesn't get away.

"Y…you know the digital sea won't harm me either. It'll kill you."

"I know, but you won't come back for awhile and my friends would take Ulrich back."

"You can't be serious. You'd kill yourself to give them an extra minute?"

"Five. Five minutes and you'll be dead. X.A.N.A. will be _dead_."

William looked at Odd with a questioning look.

"Yeah I don't care about saving William anymore. You can have him. What my friends think about William, I don't know, but I-"

Odd glances over at Ulrich's motionless body.

"He's why I'm here. The only reason I don't give up. I'd do anything to bring him back. After he's home we're shutting down the super computer. You'll be able to live here together forever."

"If you fall into the digital sea you'll be stuck in Lyoko too."

"That doesn't matter." Odd said pulling William down to his level.

Now both hanging on the ledge, face to face, gripping the edge. Instead of waiting to see who falls first, William tries pulling on one of Odd's hands. Odd huffs, he closes his eyes, bringing his head back then smacking it straight into William's forehead, head butting him. William grabs his head with one hand, yelling in pain. William grips his head and reopens his eyes just in time to see Odd's arm pointed at the remaining hold he had on the ledge. Odd smiles and shoots a laser arrow at William's arm. It fades in and out, making him faze right through the ledge falling to the sea.

"You're going first." Odd whispered hanging his head on the ledge.

"Odd are you okay?" Yumi yells, still on the ground trying to keep her wounds from reopening.

Odd looks at her and nods then over to where Ulrich's body still lies. He sees something and squints his eyes to focus better. Truth is regaining consciousness.

"TRUTH!? YOU OKAY?" Odd screams, making Yumi look over to Ulrich's body.

Odd continues to stare at Ulrich, but hears nothing back from him.

"Hang on Odd I'm coming to help you." Yumi said as she began crawling. Her body couldn't take much more.

"Oka- AH!" Odd yells as he's pulled from the ledge; now only hanging on with one hand.

"ODD!" Yumi yells; trying to get to her feet.

Odd looks down to see William hanging from his leg.

"You're getting on my last nerve Della Robbia."

Odd was confused at the sight of William. His eyes had changed to a deep red and the X.A.N.A symbol in his eyes and his forehead were glowing.

"X.A.N.A?" Odd gasped, hoping it wasn't.

"I can only hang on to this vessel for so long. I NEED ULRICH STERN!" X.A.N.A screams tugging on Odd's leg attempting to make him fall.

"Y…YUMI! I CAN'T…-" Odd struggles to speak while fighting to keep his grip on the ledge.

Yumi tries and fails to get to her feet. She starts to crawl not even caring that both wounds reopened and were now bleeding profusely.

"Jeremy DE-VIRTUALIZE ODD!" Yumi exclaims, collapsing back to the ground.

"I can't de-virtualize someone at the same time I'm doing upgrades! I can't stop it! I don't know what to do!" Jeremy panics.

He quickly begins typing trying to find someway to cancel the upgrade, but fails smashing the keyboard in frustration. Aelita pats his back as her eyes start welling up.

"HOW MUCH MORE TIME DOES THE UPGRADE HAVE?" Yumi yells out, still attempting to crawl over to Odd.

"Six minutes."

"SIX!?" Yumi asks in disbelief.

"Can he hang on for six more minutes?" Aelita asks already knowing the answer.

"No."

"Can you get to him?" Jeremy says quietly.

"No. I can't." Yumi sobs.

Jeremy stops typing. Aelita wraps her arms around Jeremy; knowing they may lose their friend, she joins in Yumi's sobbing.

Odd continues to hang on for dear life while trying to kick William/X.A.N.A off his leg.

"THE SEA WON'T KILL YOU ANYWAYS SO GET OFF ME!"

"I know, but it'll kill you."

Odd starts to panic. He hasn't saved Ulrich, hasn't brought Ulrich home, and he hasn't told Ulrich-

_No. There's nothing to tell. I already accepted him being with Yumi. _

Even so, he had to make sure he got Ulrich home safe. He's been here too long. They all have.

The feline musters up all the strength he has left and tries lifting not only his body, but William's up onto the ledge. He manages to get his other hand gripping the ledge again before giving up.

"Damn." Odd exhales and looks down at X.A.N.A.

X.A.N.A cocks his head to one side and grins evilly.

"Your fat." Odd says, trying to hold back a chuckle.

He takes a deep breath and, again, tries getting back on the ledge. He fails again.

_Crap if only I could get my arms up. At least then it'd be easier kicking this ass off. _

Hanging by only his hands with X.A.N.A pulling on his leg, Odd is running out of ideas. He can no longer see a way out of this.

"IT'S GOTTA BE OVER SIX MINUTES NOW RIGHT!?" Odd screams.

"No. It's only been three minutes Odd." Jeremy explains.

"Hang on for another three! I'll be right there Odd." Aelita reassures, running to the scanner.

"I'm sorry, but I can't hang on anymore."

Jeremy, Aelita, and Yumi hold their breath, not believing what they just heard.

"I'm sorry Yumi. I'm sorry Aelita. I'm sorry Jeremy." Odd says quietly.

He sighs noticing he can no longer see Ulrich since he was hanging below the sector's edge.

"I'm sorry Ulrich. I didn't save you. I wish…ah never mind." Odd whispers, hating that he couldn't even say what he wanted when no one, excluding X.A.N.A, was around.

_Oh well. Guess this is one of those things I take to the grave. _

His thoughts stung his heart, but he didn't have time to linger on that feeling as he felt his fingers release their grip. The Cat's eyes close, accepting the inevitable. Yumi watched as purple clothed hands disappeared from the edge.

"ODD!" Her screams filled Lyoko as well as the computer lab.

Aelita didn't have time to make it to the scanners as her feet gave out, bringing her to the floor. Jeremy's hands froze, Yumi's screams echoing in his head. Everything feels as if it's moving too slow except for the tears leaving their eyes, endlessly pouring out.

"ODD!" Yumi screams again with the faint hope of hearing a reply.

Instead of hearing a response she sees a quick black and yellow figure move to where Odd fell, almost like a blur. Even blurred, she instantly knew who it was.

"…Ulrich?" She whispers barely audible.

Jeremy and Aelita's tears slow as their heads perk up.

* * *

_Weird. I still feel like I'm hanging. Is this "death" in Lyoko? _

"…-dd"

_Wait…_

"ODD!"

Odd's eyes shoot open, alert, he looks below. X.A.N.A/William is on his leg still hanging, but he's not dead.

"HAHA I'm not dead." Odd exclaims in relief.

"You will be if I'm not able to pull you up."

Odd feels his body freeze as he slowly looks up. Wrapped around his wrist, holding him up, keeping him from death is Ulrich.

"U…Ulrich? You're awake! Wait is it Truth or Ulrich?" Odd gasps holding back his over excitement.

"Truth left my body taking the X.A.N.A offspring with him." Ulrich says quietly with a smirk.

"Really!? Ulrich..? How do you feel?"

"Odd now isn't the best time to talk. You need to get _that_ off your leg." Ulrich says pointing at William.

Odd grins and starts kicking at William's face and hands. With every kick he notices their all slowly starting to fall. Looking back to Ulrich, almost hanging off the edge himself, he shows a worried expression.

"It's okay. I've got you. I won't let go." Ulrich says tightening his grip around Odd's wrist.

Odd grabs Ulrich's hand with his free hand and resumes the beating on William's face, but feels as though he's wasting his time. X.A.N.A isn't showing any sign of letting go.

"DAMMIT LET GO!" Odd screams.

He kicks William straight in the nose, hearing the crack, Odd smiles. X.A.N.A has had enough raising one arm he summons a scyphozoa right behind Ulrich.

"Ah great. Odd speed it up down there!" Ulrich yells looking back at the approaching monster.

"Why what is it?" Odd says in a rush.

"One unfriendly scyphozoa." Ulrich says sarcastically.

"Wait can't those-"

"Yes Odd. I summoned that creature to capture Ulrich while he's open and, again, vulnerable. It's the perfect chance to obtain a vessel and kill an opponent. Two birds with one stone as you "humans" say it." X.A.N.A replies; now trying to climb up Odd's body.

"Odd! Hurry!" Ulrich screams.

He quickly looks back at the scyphozoa then over at Yumi. She's fallen unconscious, he curses under his breath.

"Jeremy is Aelita coming yet?" Said Ulrich; unsheathing his sword, stabbing it into the ground to keep his position.

"She just entered the scanner. One second."

"We don't have a second Jeremy!" Odd yells while kicking William at the same time hanging onto Ulrich's bruising hand.

"Wait." Ulrich exclaims, throwing a leg out far enough for the scyphozoa to grab.

"What are you doing!?" Odd exclaims watching Ulrich's pained expression.

"I'm getting him to pull us up." Ulrich whispered.

Odd knew being pulled here and there must be painful for Ulrich, but if it was there only way, it had to be done. He also knew no matter how much he was against hurting Ulrich any further Ulrich wouldn't listen.

"Hang on I'll get you up." Ulrich reassured placing his sword within its sheath he grabbed onto the ledge waiting for the scyphozoa.

"How do you know this'll work?" Odd asked, still kicking.

"I don't know but it's all I got."

Finally X.A.N.A begins to lose his grip on Odd's leg and goes for his tail.

"AHHH! NOT MY TAIL YOU IDIOT!" Odd screams letting go of Ulrich's hand.

"ODD!" Ulrich gasps in pain with the added weight.

_Wait…ah I'm such an idiot._

Odd stops kicking and points his arm straight at X.A.N.A/William's head.

"Forgot I can shoot you." Odd smiles and shoots a continuous stream of arrows into William's body until he finally releases the Cat's tail, falling into the digital sea.

Odd exhales a sigh of relief and looks up at Ulrich.

"You okay?" Odd whispers concerned.

He's never seen Ulrich so exhausted. He has been in Lyoko much longer than they have plus he's been through hell. Odd needed to get him home…now!

"I'm fin-AHHHH!" Ulrich screams as the scyphozoa wraps a tentacle around his legs squeezing and shocking his whole body.

"ULRICH!?" Odd yells; wondering why he wasn't feeling the shock from the scyphozoa.

* * *

"ODD!? ULRICH!? YUMI!?" Aelita yells out flying in from the nearest way tower.

She flies around searching for her friends; waiting for some sort of sign. She quickly spots Yumi unconscious and bleeding.

"YUMI!?" Aelita yells landing on her feet; running over to Yumi.

She turns Yumi over onto her back and checks her wounds. The gash on her leg had mostly stopped bleeding from the makeshift tourniquet. As for the cut across her waist, the blood was seeping through her ribbon. Aelita hurries to think of a way to stop the bleeding all together.

"Energy Field." She whispers as orbs of light appear in her hand. She slowly lifts the ribbon-made tourniquet and places the Energy Field onto the wound.

"AHHHHHH!" Yumi screams wake her from unconsciousness.

Through unimaginable pain, the heat from the power burned Yumi's wounds closed.

"I'm sorry I had to do that. Are you okay Yumi?" Aelita asks with concern; helping her friend to her feet.

"I'm okay. Thanks Aelita. Where are Odd and Ulri-"

"AHHHH!" Ulrich screams alert Aelita and Yumi; filling them with dread and worry.

They search the surrounding area finally finding the scyphozoa attached to Ulrich, who was holding, Odd from falling into the digital sea. Yumi and Aelita ran to help their friends.

"ODD!?" Aelita exclaims; regenerating her wings, flying into the air above the scyphozoa.

"HELP ULRICH!" Odd screams waving a free hand at Aelita.

Aelita quickly flies towards Ulrich only to be stopped by six hornets flying her way.

"Oh no!" She yells flying in the opposite direction tossing out Energy Fields.

* * *

The scyphozoa had its tentacles wrapped around Ulrich's legs and waist, but it wasn't pulling.

"Ulrich it isn't pulling us up like you said. You need to let me go!" Odd pleaded with Ulrich to release his dead weight so he could fight the scyphozoa.

"I'm not…letting you g…go Odd." Ulrich could barley form words through the intense pain.

Odd stared into Ulrich's eyes. They were red, shiny, and fighting back tears.

"Ulrich. Let go." Odd demanded with the most expressionless face he could make.

"I…can't Odd." Ulrich choked out.

"IF YOU DROP ME THE SCYPHOZOA WILL PULL YOU UP! THEN YOU CAN KILL THE DAMN THING! LET GO!" Odd was frustrated, hoping he'd let go and at the same time hoping he wouldn't.

The scyphozoa tightened its grip around Ulrich's legs and waist sending out more electricity throughout his body.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ulrich screamed in agony, but still wouldn't lessen the hold he had on Odd.

Odd couldn't stand to watch Ulrich in pain any longer. With his free hand he began to pry Ulrich's hand off from around his wrist.

"ODD!" Ulrich yells in immediate terror.

Ulrich fights with Odd trying to keep from his own death.

"Pl…please you can't do this. Not…now. I know what you've been…through just to get here…just to get to me. I know that I can't leave Lyoko without…you. I won't." Ulrich confesses.

Odd looks away from Ulrich's shiny eyes and hangs his head.

"You can. You're able to leave Lyoko if we can get you into a way tower. So drop me, fight the monster around you, then run to the way tower. I'm sure Aelita and Yumi can help you."

"DAMMIT ODD! That's not…-"

Something wet drips onto Odd's face as he slowly raises his head. He locks eyes with Ulrich, and notices he's crying.

"Ulrich. I can't see you like this. This isn't you. You're strong, clever, and brave. You have to save Lyoko now and I know you can do it without me-"

"Isn't that the same…thing I said to you?" Ulrich interrupted.

Odd tilts his head thinking back to Ulrich's same words that ripped at his heart.

"_Odd. So…rry, but you can't die here with me. You ha…ve much to do. Come ba…ck and de…feat X.A.N.A. not only for me, but for Ly…oko…for our fri…ends!" _

"_I CAN'T! NOT WITHOUT YOU! ULRICH!" Odd had never cried so much in his life._

"_Odd. You are a Lyoko War…rior. We all ha…ve an obli…gation to pro…tect Lyoko and the wor…ld from X.A.N.A. I couldn't do it. I had to get rid of the stro…ng vess…el X.A.N.A wanted so bad…ly."_

"_But…Ulrich. I can't…not without you. I can't do ANYTHING without you!" _

"_You can live with…out me Odd. I know you ca…n. You are my best f…friend."_

"Please don't be stupid like I was." Ulrich says with a sigh.

Odd continued to stare at Ulrich then slowly glances over at their hands, noticing they somehow ended up intertwined. Ulrich squeezed Odd's hand.

"I'm…not letting go." Ulrich promised.

Odd didn't know how to feel, but he knew he wasn't letting go. There's no way he could let go now.

_First? Second? Doesn't matter anymore. I'm sorry Yumi, but I love him too. _

Odd squeezed Ulrich's hand back feeling a single tear leave his eye. Even in this horrible position and situation, Odd was the happiest he's felt in a long time.

**(A/N) AH! I'M SO SORRY! It took me beyond forever to write this one, but but but it is the LONGEST CHAPTER yet! I'm quite excited about that, yes. Anyways the reason it took me so long was because of the following: College, Work, and MAJOR Writer's Block. I'm happy I finally finished this though and I already have Chapter 17 in progress...shouldn't be much longer! I'm thinking it'll only be 20 Chapters long. REVIEW! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Five Minutes **

**Chapter Seventeen - Do You Remember?**

Yumi runs at the scyphozoa throwing her fans, hitting the scyphozoa from behind. It didn't leave a scratch. The scyphozoa didn't even move. Yumi catches her fans and takes a deep breath.

"Jeremy."

"Yumi?"

"Activate my upgrade."

"Right. Activating Yumi's upgrade."

Yumi's body began to glow red. Her fighting stance relaxes as her eyes close. She holds her fans out in front of her body. The fans begin to change as they take in the glow from Yumi's body. The shape changes from a fan to that of a double ringed wheel with several sharp spikes around the edges of the outer wheel. With the change complete she slowly drops her arms and resumes her fighting stance, opening her eyes; targeting her prey–the scyphozoa.

"Yumi? How'd it work? You feel alright?" Jeremy quickly spits out questions.

"It worked fine. Weapons changed." She monotonously replied.

"Okay…but how do you feel?"

"I feel great, but I can't keep this up very long." Yumi can feel her body wanting to give and fall back to the ground. She did all she could to keep herself from giving up again.

"I told you that even though you may feel great now, when the upgrade fades again you'll most likely feel drained. It could be an effect from the upgrade, but I also said it was a last resort and a one time thing. Be careful Yumi. I'll be ready to de-virtualize you when your upgrade is gone."

"NO! I'm not leaving yet. I can still fight even after this."

"We'll see, but I recommend you coming back."

"We'll see." Yumi spat the last words said to Jeremy.

She took a quick inhale.

_This is my only chance. It's now or never. _

Yumi charged the scyphozoa from behind. Instead of throwing the wheels, like she would with her fans, she jumped into the air throwing her body at the monster. With her arms out, weapons in hand, she forces her body into a spin like a tornado full of knives. Spinning her body into the scyphozoa's she cuts through the tentacles connected to Ulrich's body, releasing him.

"Yumi!?" Ulrich gasps out as the sudden relief of freedom sets in.

The scyphozoa squeals whipping its remaining, intact, tentacles about. It seemed like a last ditch effort to defend itself while still trying to obtain the vessel for X.A.N.A.

"ULRICH PULL ODD UP AND RUN TO THE WAY TOWER!" Yumi yells readying her weapons for a second assault.

Ulrich forces every ounce of strength; he has left, directly into his arms and lifts Odd high enough to grab the edge.

"Can you pull yourself up?" Ulrich asks in pants.

"Yeah I got it. You need to get to the way tower while X.A.N.A is gone." Odd said while struggling to pull himself up.

Ulrich clearly sees the Cat struggle and lends a hand. Odd stares at the invitation and slowly tilts his head.

"You gonna just stare til you fall or you gonna take it?" Ulrich smirks.

Odd looks at the hand again then back up at Ulrich and smiles; quickly taking his hand. Ulrich, again, forces the strength back into his body and yanks the Cat up onto land. Odd collapses to his stomach and kisses the stony virtual earth.

"Thank you thank you! I'm so glad I'm not just _hanging_ anymore." Odd says with a smile.

"Come on Odd. We need to leave." Ulrich says.

Ulrich slowly tries to stand, quickly noticing it's difficult and falls back to the ground.

"Ulrich!? You okay?" Odd asks with intense concern.

The Cat quickly sits up and runs to get behind Ulrich; making sure he didn't fall back.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired…been here awhile." Ulrich whispers.

"You've been here too long. Come on we're leaving." Odd says pulling Ulrich up by his arms.

"What about…Yumi and Aelita?" Ulrich asks.

"They'll be fine. After I get you home I'll come back and hel-AH!" Odd falls to the ground, pulling Ulrich on top of him. The sudden decent and impact of weight made both, Odd and Ulrich, gasp.

"O…Odd you okay? Wh…what happened?" Ulrich says trying to get his weight off of Odd's chest.

"Dammit. I forgot William did that whole explosion thing to my shield which back lashed at me." Odd explains gripping his thigh. His thigh was moist with a warm liquid; he gripped it tighter.

"I'm sorry Odd. I'm trying to get off, but I'm pretty weak right now." Ulrich says with slight embarrassment.

"I…its fine." Odd stuttered just realizing the position their in.

His body suddenly feels really hot and he doesn't feel the pain in his thigh anymore. Odd can feel the temptation building up, but he shoves it back down knowing this isn't the best time for all that.

"Okay I can't move. Can you just push me off?" Ulrich pants in a frustrated tone.

Odd slowly nods. He grips Ulrich's shoulders and begins to lift him off his body. Odd continues lifting Ulrich up slowly like a porcelain doll; scared he might break him or injure him further. Ulrich is almost off the Cat's body when…

"ODD!? ULRICH!?"

The alarming outburst scared Odd making him abruptly push Ulrich off and land on top of him. Their positions now reversed. Odd hands were still gripped onto Ulrich's shoulders pinning him to the ground. The whole ordeal made Ulrich's head spin, it happened so fast.

"O…Odd? What was that for?" Ulrich asks; trying to catch his breath.

Odd was still trying to figure out what just happened. Hearing his name being yelled scared him making the guilt rise about the position he was in with Ulrich which then made him freak out. Realizing he was still in the same position as before, but reversed, the temptation creeps back into Odd's mind.

_I need to get off him. Right now! _

Odd's grip on Ulrich's shoulders tightens as his gaze becomes intense. His body and mind were thinking two different things.

"Odd? Are you okay?" Ulrich asks giving Odd a questioning look.

_Dammit! I need to snap out of it before I attack the guy! _

Odd's body betrays him again when one of his hands move to Ulrich's face. Gently holding his hand in place, his thumb starts to caress his cheek. Ulrich's questioning look increases to pure confusion.

"Odd what are you doing?" Ulrich asks quietly.

_I'm being so creepy right now. I need to say something!_

"What?" Odd forces out the word.

_Great just one word? That's a start ya creeper. _

"What are you doing?" Ulrich asks again darting his eyes towards Odd's caressing thumb.

"Uh…I don't know." Odd finally back in control of his body slowly pulls his hand back.

Ulrich continues to give him a confused look as Odd sits back.

"Déjàvu moment. Huh Odd?" Ulrich says looking at his legs.

"Huh?" Odd asks following Ulrich's eyes.

He was straddling him…again.

"Odd, Ulrich there you are." Aelita says as she lands.

She looks at the two on the ground, Odd on top of Ulrich. She smiles.

"Odd we all know how you feel, but now is not the best time for _that_." Aelita giggles.

Blushing, Odd quickly stands up with an apology and a hand out for Ulrich. Ulrich sent a questioning look to Aelita then back at Odd.

"Odd what happened to your leg?" Aelita asks pointing to the bleeding gash on his thigh.

"William happened." Odd said with clear hatred for the guy.

"I need to close it before you bleed out." Aelita explains readying her Energy Field.

"What are you going to do with that?" Odd and Ulrich say in unison.

They exchange looks and begin laughing. Aelita took that opportunity to place her Energy Field onto Odd's wound. He screamed like he was dying, gripping Ulrich's hand in the process.

"Damn Aelita. Thanks that felt _great_." Odd said trying to hold back another scream wanting release.

"Come on guys." Aelita said motioning them to stand.

* * *

Back to their feet, Odd swung an arm around Ulrich's waist to keep him from falling and to keep himself from wanting to fall. Aelita followed next to them glancing back and forth between the two and smiling.

"Now what?" Odd ask looking at Aelita.

"We need to find Yumi and get to the way tower before William comes back." Aelita answers throwing her gaze elsewhere.

"I haven't seen William in awhile…" Odd said.

"You just had him hanging from your leg Odd." Ulrich corrected.

"That wasn't William. X.A.N.A himself took possession of his body."

"X.A.N.A!? He's already shown himself?" Aelita gasped.

"Yeah now since I shot him into the digital sea and took his wanted vessel…he's going to be pissed." Odd said looking at the ground.

He's dreading the moment when he has to be face to face with X.A.N.A. The Cat can't help but feel as if something bad was about to happen and he wouldn't be able to stop it. Thinking about the negative outcome of this battle, Odd bites his lip drawing blood.

"Odd?" Ulrich asks looking at the Cat's bleeding lip.

Suddenly something shakes the entire mountain region. Aelita activates her wings and flies to the sky scanning the sector until she spots what looks like an explosion.

"OVER THERE!" Aelita yells pointing in the distance.

Aelita flies off in the direction of the explosion as Odd stays put.

"Why aren't we going Odd?"

"We both know you won't be able to run Ulrich…"

Odd releases Ulrich's waist and steps in front of him dropping to the ground with his arms back.

"Get on Ulrich."

"Didn't you get hurt too? What makes you think you'll be able to run?" Ulrich huffs.

"I'm taking you to the way tower so you can get home. I can run."

"W…what about Yumi and Aelita?"

"I'm not leaving Lyoko yet. I'm just getting you home."

"Odd-"

"Ulrich. I have to get you home. So please get on." Odd says trying to keep his voice strong.

Ulrich lets his body fall onto Odd's back. He swings his arms around his neck and lays his head on the Cat's shoulder. Ulrich slowly closes his eyes and speaks.

"Odd. I have to go home _with_ you. So please let me."

Odd's body is frozen from Ulrich's words.

"Y…you can't fight anymore Ulrich. I need to get you back."

"Who says I can't fight anymore? Even I doubt X.A.N.A would want to hurt his precious vessel."

"That's another thing what if X.A.N.A captures you again?" Odd says standing up noticing Ulrich has gotten lighter.

"He won't. I'll stay with you. I just can't let you do all the fighting."

"Ulrich this isn't about whose fighting. This is about protecting you. Just you."

"I know that Odd, but whose going to protect you?"

Odd couldn't answer. He didn't have an answer so he just left it blank.

"Exactly." Ulrich sighs.

Odd looks at the way tower then back in the direction Aelita went. He sighs in aggravation and sets his eyes on the explosion in the distance. He tightens his grip on Ulrich and switches into a running stance.

"DAMMIT!" Odd yells setting off in the fastest run he's ever done.

"W…wow Odd you're almost as fast as me!" Ulrich exclaims in shock.

"Yeah I know this must be the upgrade Einstein did for me."

"I would like an upgrade." Ulrich pouts.

"Haha you'll get one when we get you home." Odd laughs.

"By the way Ulrich what ever happened to Truth?"

"I'm not sure. All I remember was Truth coming to me while I was unconscious telling me he couldn't hang on anymore and he said he'd take the X.A.N.A specter with him."

"Why'd he decide to leave at that moment? Why not sooner?"

"He said he wanted to make sure you were in Lyoko first. Truth was also the one who told me to save you."

"To save me? From what? Falling?"

"Yeah. He told me you would die if I didn't move. So I did."

Odd stopped running and looked at the ground.

"Odd?"

"Why did you?"

"Why did I what?"

"Save me?"

"Why did I _save_ you? Why wouldn't I?"

"Why Ulrich?"

"Did you not want to be saved? Did you want to die?"

"No. I just need to know why."

"I saved you because I didn't want you to die. You're my best friend."

"Best friend…?"

"Yes. You are my best friend Odd."

Ulrich didn't like the way Odd was talking. His tone was sad…defeated, but strangely Ulrich felt like Odd was waiting for him to say the right thing which left him confused.

"Best friend…just-"

"Odd put me down." Ulrich said pulling his legs away.

Odd let Ulrich get down and turned around still looking at the ground.

"Odd? Look at me."

Odd hesitantly lifted his head like he was in trouble.

"Tell me what's wrong." Ulrich said folding his arms across his chest.

"Do you remember when you stabbed me then stabbed yourself?"

"Y…yes. What about it?"

"Do you remember what I said before I got de-virtualized?"

Ulrich cocked his head to the side trying to remember what his friend was talking about.

"You were telling me to leave, to heal, and come back to destroy X.A.N.A. That I could do it without you. You said I could do anything without you…that I could because I was your best friend."

"Okay Odd what-"

"Do you remember what I said after that?"

Ulrich looks at the ground. He couldn't answer because he couldn't remember.

"I think I had already died Odd. The last thing I heard you say was "you're so much more" then I died. Those were the last words I heard you say."

"So you died before I got de-virtualized…? Then you didn't…"

"Didn't what Odd!? Tell me what I didn't do." Ulrich could feel the confusion growing and that got him frustrated.

Odd stared into Ulrich's eyes.

_Is now the right time to say this? I can't hold it back anymore. If he's going to know then he should know now. _

Odd took a deep breath.

"What I said back then was "you're so much more to me than my best friend. I…I-"

Ulrich dropped his arms and took a step towards Odd.

"I-I…"

Ulrich took another step and grabbed Odd's hands. They intertwined their fingers and squeezed. Odd shook the nervous panicky feeling out of his body, focusing his gaze into Ulrich's eyes. He grabbed Ulrich's free hand; pulling him close, he inhaled taking in Ulrich's scent.

"Ulrich."

Ulrich nods trying to stay serious by fighting back an overly intruding grin.

"I love you."

At first hearing those three words, Ulrich was shocked. Shocked that he'd ever hear them coming from Odd's mouth, but it quickly faded with the upcoming smile.

"You love me?" Ulrich had to question it to make sure Odd knew what he had just said.

"I love you Ulrich Stern." Odd didn't mind saying it again. Every time his mouth uttered the words "love" and "Ulrich" he could do nothing but smile.

_I did it. I finally did it. _

In his mind, Odd pats himself on the back. He had accomplished what he had been questioning, fighting, and wanting for so long. He was beyond the point of pure happiness.

"I've had a feeling, but it's good to hear you say it. Took you long enough." Ulrich said with a smirk.

"I'll admit it took me awhile, but it's a difficult feeling to understand." Odd says letting their hands part.

"Do you want me to say it back?"

"N…not if you don't feel it. I just had to tell you. You don't have to do it to make me feel better." Odd says as he turns away from Ulrich.

"But…I do."

Odd stops, frozen again.

"Odd?" Ulrich asks shyly.

Ulrich grabs Odd's hand and pulls him back around to look at him.

"Odd?" Ulrich ask again now worried.

Odd's face was completely blank.

"W…what did you say?" Odd said without messing up the blank expression.

"I love you too-"

Odd throws his arms around Ulrich's body and tightly embraces him.

"Wait. Why suddenly?" Odd asks slowly releasing Ulrich.

"What do you mean why suddenly? How long have I been here? What have you done…what have you been through to get me home? Truth has told me everything you've said…everything you've done. You've done so much for me Odd. Protected me, cared for me, and you fought for me. From what I heard you even…died for me. I've known you felt _something_ for me, but didn't know you actually _loved_ me until now. And it wasn't suddenly…I've always loved you Odd."

Odd couldn't form the right words that would express the happiness and love he had for Ulrich. Odd loved him…and Ulrich loved him back. Odd sighed. Ulrich had raised his arms up around Odd's neck while Odd's were around Ulrich's waist.

"Even after I stabbed you…I killed you. You still love me. That's what I don't understand Odd." Ulrich said; a single tear falling from his eye.

"You are my best friend Ulrich. You have always meant everything to me. I just never realized that was "love" until I was without you." Odd said wiping the stray tear from Ulrich's face.

Ulrich smiled and placed his hand on Odd's holding it to his face. Odd moved his hand to the side of Ulrich's face, pulling it closer. Closing their eyes, their lips met. At first it was a shy kiss, but it quickly intensified into a desirable passionate need for each other. Odd's hands gripped at Ulrich's waist moving down to his hips. Ulrich tightened the hold he had around Odd's neck, letting one hand grip and pull at his hair. This felt good. This felt right. This felt…long overdue.

"ODD!? ULRICH!?"

The two lover's lips parted to meet Yumi and Aelita's beyond surprised expressions.

"Wow." Was all Aelita could say before realizing Yumi was right next to her seeing the same thing. She was dreading to see what would happen next.

"Y…Yumi." Odd stutters. The elated feeling he had before only slightly diminished. Inside he was happy she saw Ulrich with him.

Ulrich drops his arms and staggers towards Yumi. She doesn't move, but there is clear hate, anger, and vengeance in her eyes.

"I'm glad your both alright. What was that explosion?" Ulrich says trying his best to turn the situation.

"That _explosion_ was me defeating the scyphozoa. Or did you forget what your other friends did for you?" Yumi spats her words like venom.

"That's not it Yumi. I just don't-"

"Don't what Ulrich!?"

"This isn't the time or place to do _this_." Ulrich makes a gesture to the awkward situation.

"Oh but it's the time and place to do that?" Yumi points at Odd taking Ulrich's hand.

"Yes." Ulrich said with a straight face.

"Come on guys we should leave before X.A.N.A returns." Aelita says pointing towards the way tower.

Odd puts his arm around Ulrich's waist again to keep him up and they follow Aelita to the way tower with Yumi sulking behind. She sped up and placed her lips to Odd's ear.

"I will _never_ forgive you for this Odd. I will take him back and you will pay for betraying a friend." Yumi whispered.

Odd looked back at her. He saw…no he could _feel_ the hate she had for him. The Cat's hair stood on edge when he felt the urge to kill come from her eyes. Thinking that was too crazy to even give it another thought, Odd quickly erased it. He turned back around and pulled Ulrich closer to his body, feeling the need to protect him from one of their own.

**(A/N) This took a lot longer than I thought it would and it's not even that long. Even so, I felt like it needed to end there. They finally said there loves for each other and they finally KISSED! YES! :) Anyways I'm thinking there will be a sequel to this...not sure yet we'll see how this ends. It'll be ending soon I know that for sure at least. So yeah review please! Tell me what you think of all this. :) REVIEW!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Eighteen - No Matter What**

The four Lyoko warriors continued to make their way towards the nearest way tower; Aelita leading, Odd half carrying Ulrich, and Yumi falling close behind.

"Is it just me or is this taking a lot longer than usual?" Odd says stopping to take a breath.

"I can walk on my own Odd." Ulrich said pulling his arm from Odd's grasp.

"You sure?" Odd said looking him over.

Ulrich nodded and tried to catch back up to Aelita. Odd followed; doing everything not to be alone with the pissed Yumi. Aelita ran ahead and activated her wings to see how far away they actually were.

"Hey guys I can see the way tower! We're getting closer!" Aelita yelled, pointing in the direction of the tower.

"Great!" Ulrich cheered, ready to leave…with everyone.

"Damn. Wish I could run." Odd gasped.

"You doing okay?" Ulrich asked grabbing hold of Odd's arm.

"Sure am. Never felt better." Odd said jokingly while trying to sound reassuring.

"We need to hurry and get Ulrich home." Aelita said landing back to the ground.

"Just me?" Ulrich said in a slightly panicked tone.

"For now yes." Aelita answered quickly.

"No."

"Ulrich please-"

"No Aelita. I'm staying until everyone else returns home." Ulrich's eyes fell upon Odd.

Aelita slowly nodded.

"Aelita!? What are you thinking? We have to get Ulrich out of here!" Yumi exploded.

"I understand what your saying Yumi, but-"

"But!? But what!? You're allowing Odd to put Ulrich in danger like this again!? He's been here for almost a month. Who knows if his body will even be able to go back to-"

"YUMI!"

Odd and Ulrich exchanged confused glances.

"Aelita?" Odd spoke, wanting her to continue.

"…"

"Aelita!"

"I'm sorry Odd. Jeremy told me not to discuss it."

"It's okay Aelita. There's no point in waiting now." Jeremy whispered.

"Can it wait until-"

"No." Odd and Ulrich said in unison.

"Fine, but we need to get out of the open." Aelita said.

* * *

They found a place to hide that was, at least, closer to the way tower. It was a small cave surrounded by neighboring rocks and mountains. Aelita lit an Energy Field and placed it between them to simulate a campfire. They all sat around the pulsating energy while Yumi stayed back, refusing to get anywhere near Odd.

"Okay as you both know being away from Earth for any amount of time can have difficult side effects. Just us coming and going depletes our energy; although we have been training to prevent our bodies from becoming weak, but that's just for an hour or less trip…not a month. I can't say whether Earth's reality will either reject or except Ulrich since he's been here this long. Also if an hour trip used to deplete our energy I can't say what a month of being away from Earth would do to him."

"What's the worst that could happen to me?"  
"Well your physical energy could be completely run dry that it would then have to go to your life energy…"

"And…?"

"…possibly killing you in the process."

"So basically every Lyoko trip we take requires physical energy from us." Odd asks quietly.

"Yes."

"And when we no longer have any physical energy it'll take what's needed from our life energy…"

"Yes."

"...and that could kill us?"

"Y...yes."

"DAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL!? Why hasn't anyone said anything to me about this!? Jeremy!?" Odd screamed at the cave walls, his voice echoing throughout their little cave.

"I'm sorry Odd. I couldn't tell you until I knew for sure…or-"

"Or if we got him home and he died?" Odd finished.

"Ulrich. I'm sorry that we didn't tell you…it's just-"

Ulrich held his hand up to Aelita's face so he didn't have to hear her excuses. He slowly stood and staggered towards the cave's entrance.

"I finally get free from William, X.A.N.A, and even Truth and still my life is…"

"Ulrich." Odd walked towards him.

"ARGHHHH AHHHHHH!" Ulrich yelled, fist connecting to the cave wall. The force of his punch shook the entire cave. He collapsed, hands gripping the virtual dirt.

The girls shot to their feet at the sudden outburst while Odd ran to comfort Ulrich.

"Ulrich! It'll be okay. Please trust me." Odd wrapped an arm around his Ulrich and held him tight.

"No Odd. I can't see this ending well for us. In here or back at home. It's over and…I'm done." Ulrich shoved Odd's arm off and stood.

"You're done? What the hell does that mean?" Odd said with clear anger as he, too, got back to his feet. He pushed the limits of personal space as he got as close to Ulrich's face they were nose to nose. He wanted an answer…now.

"If I go back I could die. If I stay here then I become X.A.N.A's vessel. So what else could there be Odd? If I say I'm done then I'm done with…this." Ulrich said waving his arms around gesturing to their surroundings.

"This what?" Aelita cut in.

"Life." Ulrich spat the word like poison.

No one said a word. Yumi looked at Ulrich's stone set face. He was serious and it made her feel like dying herself. She, again, collapsed and only allowed a single tear to fall, vanishing into the virtual ground beneath.

"Really?" Odd said with a blank face, still, barely inches from Ulrich's face.

Ulrich didn't respond and started backing away from Odd; refusing to meet Odd's powerful gaze.

"So that's it then." Odd mumbled and walked to the caves entrance.

"Odd? What're you doing?" Aelita asked, worry growing.

"Aelita. I want you and Yumi to get to the way tower and get out of here."

"What? What about you and Ulrich!?"

"He wants to be done with this. So I'll give him what he wants."

"Odd?" Ulrich whispered.

"Aelita."

"I can't just leave you two Odd." Aelita tried not to start begging.

"Yeah I'm not leaving Lyoko without Ulrich." Yumi butt in, standing to join the conversation.

"Jeremy didn't know whether or not Ulrich would live or die if we sent him back and Ulrich doesn't want to become X.A.N.A's vessel…"

Odd took a deep breath.

"I'm going to kill X.A.N.A so Ulrich can stay here in Lyoko without becoming anyone's vessel. He'll be able to live here like you once did Aelita."

Aelita stared into the Cat's eyes. What she saw wasn't strength that he had the energy to do any fighting or the hope that he'd live through the fight while protecting Ulrich. She looked deeper and clearly saw that he was fighting an internal battle and she couldn't help, intervene, or provide him with protection against the conflicting feelings.

"Are you crazy Odd!? Do I not get a say in this!?" Ulrich yelled, interrupting Aelita's thoughts.

"No you don't Ulrich." Odd said bluntly.

"Why the hell would I wanna live here on Lyoko? I'd be alone for one thing and with the bug that X.A.N.A created I'd still lose my life energy eventually."

"Jeremy could fix the bug before you lost it."

"And…?"

"And? What?"

"I'D BE ALONE HERE ODD! I CAN'T…!" Ulrich let his head hang and kept his eyes locked on the ground at his feet.

Odd slowly walked back to Ulrich and grabbed his shaky hand. At the slight contact, he immediately felt the glare on his back. He knew it had to be Yumi, but didn't care in the least.

"Ulrich. Do you really think I was planning on leaving you on Lyoko alone?"

"What are you talking about?" Ulrich mumbled, looking at Odd, dumbfounded.

Odd placed a hand on Ulrich's cheek.

"I'm staying here with you." Odd whispered.

Gasps quickly filled the cave along with Jeremy's gasp from the computer room.

"Are you crazy Odd!?" Aelita tried to keep her voice low.

"If he can't return home then I'm staying with him. No matter what."

"Odd-" Jeremy tried to talk Odd out of this crazy idea, only to fail by interruption.

"No matter what."

"Odd. Would you really give up your life back home to stay here with me?" Ulrich asked.

"I can't leave you here alone Ulrich."

"I can't let you throw everything away for me Odd. Y…you…can't stay here."

"I'm staying. With you. Here." Odd said pointing to the ground.

Ulrich knew he couldn't say anything to Odd to change his mind so he let it drop, for now. Odd didn't remove his hand from Ulrich's face; his eyes never broke concentration. The Cat took that opportunity, without caring who was behind him, and slowly closed the distance between them. The kiss was just as amazing as the first; still with the same desperation and passion, but more gentle. Odd fought with himself, but he eventually broke the kiss leaving Ulrich with the lustful look of wanting more. He could've sworn he heard a slight giggle from Aelita and a puff of frustration from Yumi…both he was quite happy with, but he fought back the creeping smile.

"I can tell how much you hate this, but I wan- need to stay with you Ulrich. I will not leave you alone. I promi-"

Ulrich held a finger to the Cat's lips. He knew Odd meant what he said, but he couldn't take anymore promises that would get his hopes up for him only to be crushed down with disappointment. He couldn't do it again.

"Don't Odd. No more promises. They all turn out to be lies in the end."

"I'm sorry to interrupt guys, but we should get going before anyone or thing shows up." Aelita said deactivating her make shift campfire.

* * *

Odd didn't care to turn to meet Yumi's glare, but he could definitely feel it digging its way in his back like a knife. He no longer wished to think about how he pretty much stole Ulrich from her…he was happy and Ulrich returned his feelings so _they_ were happy. She needed to accept it and deal. Odd nodded to himself, he knew he was in the right.

"How's your leg now Odd?" Ulrich asked, gently touching the Cat's leg with concern.

"It feels better than it did when I got it." Odd joked with a small grin, which Ulrich copied.

"Guys X.A.N.A is mobilizing again! There are some monsters on their way to you!" Jeremy yelled at the screen.

"Great. Everyone ready?" Odd asked with slight sarcasm.

"I'm good." Ulrich quickly replied.

"Yes." Aelita whispered.

Odd finally looked back at Yumi who was wiping her eyes. She glared at him again and gave him a slow nod.

"O…okay! Let's go!" Odd screamed and ran out of the cave.

"ODD!" Ulrich and Aelita yelled and ran after him.

Yumi hung back leaning against the mouth of the cave.

"So what's your answer Yumi?"

Her whole body froze and his breath caused chills to cascade all over her body. She slowly turned her head to see William only inches from her face.

"Hmm?" He whispered.

"W…what are you talking about?" She tried her best to hide her fear.

"Aw. You don't seem to remember our last conversation during our previous encounter."

"You were trying to kill me the whole time so it's hard to remember that you were even talking."

"Let me refresh your memory then…" William placed a finger on Yumi's temple and shot images through her mind of their last encounter.

"_ATTACK!" William yells, again, thrusting his sword into the air._

_Yumi does just that and attacks William, throwing her fans, hitting the arm holding the sword. The bug still having no effect on X.A.N.A's minions his arm just fades in and out with no sign of blood. _

"_Okay. This will definitely be a one-sided fight." Yumi said, trying to hide the worry in her voice. _

_William looks at his arm then back at Yumi and laughs._

"_AHAHAHA! You fool! Why do you even bother? WE WON!" William yells tightening his grip on Ulrich. _

_Once she caught her fans again, Yumi's stance changes back into attack mode. She slowly points at Ulrich, still slung up around William's shoulder._

"_This?" William cocks his head to one side. Yumi nods. _

"_None of this would be happening if you would only return what's ours."_

"_Are you really trying to bargain with X.A.N.A? He wants…needs this vessel."_

_Yumi quickly looks over at Odd, still fighting the herd of enemies. Then back at William, regaining her fighting stance. _

"_Unless you know of someone stronger?" William whispered so only Yumi could hear. _

_Her eyes gazed back over at Odd once more._

William cut the connection through Yumi's mind in time to see her eyes grow wide with fear.

"Really? You want me to answer _that_?"

"Yes. Do you think Odd Della Robbia is a better vessel for my master than Ulrich Stern?"

"What would happen if I said yes?"

"Naturally our target would change to the Cat."

"…and if I said no?"

"We would continue with what were doing now."

"So Ulrich would be of no use to you if you had a stronger vessel?"

William nods.

"You'd leave him alone?"

William nods.

"Even if we returned in the future you still wouldn't want anything to do with Ulrich?"

"Well everything would go back to normal. You'd come to collect data or to shut down an activated tower and we would again try to stop you like always. X.A.N.A now having a vessel, he then would join in the attack. Whether you fight against Ulrich or Odd is up to you."

"I can't make that decision." She yelled at herself for not saying Odd, but she knew she couldn't do something like that. That was complete betrayal.

"That's disappointing Yumi. Since you don't have an answer then you're really no use to X.A.N.A anymore." William said summoning his sword.

"W…what!?" Yumi gasped pulling out her fans.

William swung his sword just as Yumi opened a fan to block the blow. It hit and her body flew from the mouth of the cave to out in the open.

"Hahh. Jere…Jeremy?"

"Y…Yumi!? Are you okay?" Jeremy yelled.

"I'm okay just dizzy. Williams attacking me can any of the others help?"

"Hang on Yumi!"

* * *

On the other side of the mountain sector Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich were fighting against an ongoing horde of X.A.N.A's monsters.

"There's no end to them!" Odd yelled while he continued shooting off laser arrows at the hornets flying above.

"Keep at it. It's either them or us!" Ulrich said cutting down his last krab then running to attack a megatank that was approaching.

Aelita flew above helping Odd with the hornets.

"Energy Field!" Aelita kept the attack going as long as she could.

"Hey guys!" Jeremy said, alert.

"What is it Einstein?" Odd quickly replied.

"William is attacking Yumi back at the cave! One of you go back her up!"

"WHAT!?" They all said in unison. The three warriors glanced at one another.

Odd shot down the last of the hornets only for them to be replaced by a wall of megatanks and krabs. He let out a tired breath.

"Damn this is too much for me. Sorry guys guess I'm going to help Yumi." Odd said already in a running stance.

"ODD WAIT!" Ulrich screamed slightly panicked.

"What is it?"

Ulrich threw his arms around Odd's neck and squeezed, making their bodies touch. Odd was stunned at the sudden affection that he didn't hug back. Ulrich pulled away and quickly pecked Odd on his frozen lips.

"Please be careful Odd."

Odd could only nod.

"I love you."

At that Odd shocked himself out of his trance and smashed his lips again to Ulrich's. They quickly parted and just stood there holding each other. Wishing the moment would last forever. Odd lifted his gaze to look into Ulrich's; he could see he was worried.

"It'll be okay Ulrich. I love you." Odd pecked his cheek for a final kiss then ran off in Yumi's direction.

* * *

Ulrich turned back to see the wall of enemies approaching. Aelita landed back on the ground next to Ulrich and grabbed his hand.

"That's a lot of megatanks…and krabs." She whispered and squeezed his hand.

Ulrich could feel Aelita shaking within his grasp. He gently squeezed back.

"We'll be fine Aelita. We can do this. Just think of it as a normal mission to Lyoko…without the bug and without X.A.N.A wanting a vessel. Just a normal mission." Ulrich took a deep breath.

She closed her eyes and listened to approaching horde of X.A.N.A fueled minions. Her whole body began to shake until she focused her hearing on Ulrich's steady breathing. Surprised at how calm he was, Aelita opened her eyes and saw the look of bravery, strength, and determination that makes Ulrich Stern a Lyoko Warrior.

"That's right." She whispered.

"What's right?" He asked, confused.

"I'm a Lyoko Warrior. We are Lyoko Warriors and I'll be damned if this little army takes me down." Aelita exclaimed with a proud smile.

Ulrich was shocked that the little princess would even say the word "damned," but he smiled in agreement.

"Ready?" He said with a nod.

"I am."

The two warriors parted and readied their weapons. Aelita activated her wings to fight from the air as Ulrich pulled out his swords to fight on the ground. They looked at each other and with a quick nod from Ulrich, he ran towards the horde. Aelita smiled and followed with a small trail of tears falling behind.

**(A/N) There it is! Finally another chapter. Again sorry it took as long as it did. I'm starting the nineteenth chapter now. It should be up soon, but not making any promises because they may turn out to be lies. Hehe. Anyways REVIEWS PLEASE! AND THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR. :)**

****PS: there are only TWO chapters left. so hope you enjoy them. Review. :D**


	19. Chapter 19

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Nineteen - Even Filled with Fear, They Fight**

Odd continued to run until he saw what looked like smoke or fog; remembering what that crap can do worried him. He pushed himself to run faster.

_Ulrich and I are going to have to race sometime…I think I'm getting faster. _

Odd laughed at himself for thinking about that kind of stuff in this kind of situation. He quickly erased the grin.

* * *

"See little Yumi? You will never beat me! YOU CAN NEVER WIN!" William screamed, holding Yumi up by her neck. She frantically kicked her feet to get free from his grasp.

"L…let go…" She forced out.

William's immediate response was to laugh. To Yumi's surprise, he dropped her. She quickly crawled away desperately trying to locate her discarded fans.

"I will never know why you simpletons even try to fight us when we have the advantage."

"We f…ight because we have…to."

"You have to? How so?"

"You're attacking us…trying to take Ulrich. So n…naturally we'd fight back."

_SLAP_

Hearing her smartass tone, William struck her across the face making her fall back to the ground.

"You will not speak to me like that." William knelt down and grabbed Yumi by her hair, pulling her back up.

"Let me ask you for your opinion since you never answered me earlier…"

"No." She bluntly replied.

_SLAP_

William, again, connected his hand to her cheek. Yumi gasped out at the pain in her face; blood dripping from her mouth.

"At least we know Jeremy didn't fix the bug yet." William grinned.

"…"

"Anyways Yumi who do you think is the strongest Lyoko Warrior? Out of all of you?"

"Out of all of us?"

"Yes. It doesn't have to be a male vessel. Just a strong one and don't say you…I'd already know you'd be lying."

"Like I…said before. I can't make that decision."

"It's not a decision. I'm simply asking for your opinion."

"Fine I don't have a damn opinion."

_SLAP_

"You better answer or I'll just keep this up."

Yumi spit blood in William's face and grinned. Face full of bloody teeth.

_SLAP_

"Well I am glad you're at least enjoying yourself."

Yumi, again, spit blood in his face.

"I…am."

William dropped her and stood. He wiped the blood off his face and looked down at Yumi's, still grinning face.

_KICK_

William forcefully took his foot and jabbed it into the side of Yumi's stomach. Hearing her cough and gag made his face light up.

"Now it seems we're both happy." He summoned his sword again, held it with one hand, and hovered it above Yumi's chest.

Yumi wasn't able to defend herself; she was overwhelmed by the continuous coughing and gagging.

"One down. Two to go." William gripped his sword with both hands and raised it in the air.

Yumi watched the thin sharp sword steadily hanging above her aching body. She closed her eyes and saw flashes of Ulrich at their last meeting before any of this even happened. She smiled and watched as Ulrich just laughed and smiled back at her. She couldn't remember what he was laughing at until she saw Odd come up from behind Ulrich and wrap an arm around his shoulders. They continued laughing at their own joke filled conversations as she slowly faded from the memory.

_It's not ending like this. Odd will not have Ulrich. _

Desperation and determination pouring through her emotions and overflowing her body, her eyes shot open in time to see the blade coming down at her chest. Yumi didn't see her fans anywhere in sight so without thinking she used her bare hands to stop the attack. She gripped the top of the sword and placed a hand in between her chest and the sword's sharp blade, it cutting into her hand. Yumi bit her lip to mask the pain.

"Why won't you just lay down and except the inevitable!?" William yelled pushing down on the swords, cutting further into Yumi's palm.

"I won't die! Not here…not by your hand William!" She yelled back at him, pushing against the sword. She could feel the worst of the pain in her middle finger, like it was being cut off, but she knew she'd die if she stopped.

"No one will save you. You will die. Let me make it quick Yumi." William said in a persuasive tone.

"Never." She spat.

"Stubborn little…" William was fed up with this game.

_KICK_

Again, his foot met her stomach with more force than the first jab. More coughs burst from her body causing the blade to shift towards her waist, slightly cutting her stomach. The blade piercing her palm had almost cut through and the pain was unbelievable. Blood covered her waist so much that she was practically swimming in it.

"I see. So you're not going to give up until I cut the hand off?" William said with a calm look and began pushing harder. Yumi could no longer hide the pain so she let it out in blood curdling screams of agony.

* * *

"Hey Einstein am I getting closer to Yumi?" Odd said, still running. His thigh wound was throbbing with pain, he ignored it.

"Yes your almost there Odd. Speed it up!" Jeremy said and continued to type.

Odd huffed and forced his body to move faster.

_Dammit everything hurts, but I have to make it to Yumi before-_

"AHHHHH!"

Odd's thought was cut off by Yumi's heart stopping shrieks. It almost stopped him in his tracks, but he, again, forced his body to move even faster now that he _knew_ Yumi was in pain.

"CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING Jeremy!?" Odd yelled at the sky.

"No. Only that she's very close to William. So I'd assume he's…hurting her." Jeremy said quietly.

"He won't be for long. I can see them!" Odd saw William above Yumi with his sword cutting through her hand and going into her stomach. The heat from anger flowed through his veins and branched out throughout his body. He stopped cold in his tracks.

"Hey Jeremy activate part of my upgrade."

"Only part?"

"Yes I don't want it to completely drain me. So I don't want to use all of it now."

"But-"

"Jeremy PLEASE!"

"Right. Activating part one of Odd's upgrade."

Eyes closed, Odd's stance relaxed as his arms began glowing purple. His hands relaxed and fingers spread apart. His hands began to change while taking in the purple glow from his arms. The Cat's hands were replaced completely by huge purple canons. Odd quickly felt the heavy weight from the canons and collapsed to his knees.

_Bet these aren't as heavy with the rest of my upgrade activated. Oh well. Here goes nothing!_

"AAAAHHHHH!" The sound of Yumi's screams echoed in Odd's head. His eyes reopened and he ran towards William and Yumi, hands pointed down at his sides.

"YUMI!" The Cat yelled, stopping only feet from them, raising his weapons.

Yumi turned her head and saw what she thought was a purple cat with empty cups for hands.

"O…Odd?" She said shocked by his appearance and the fact that he was even there.

"Get away from her!" Odd yelled, struggling with the weight from the canons.

"Or what? Shoot me with something that wouldn't hurt me in the least?"

"It'll hurt. Trust me. Get away from her. NOW!" Odd warned.

William smirked and continued forcing the blade into Yumi's hand and stomach.

"AHH! O…ODD! HELP ME!" She gasped.

"I warned you." With a blank face, Odd activated his canons. A bright purple light came from both canons.

"That it? A damn light show Della Robbia?" William chuckled.

"Not even close Dunbar. Fire." Odd whispered, digging his feet into the ground to hold his balance.

The purple light exploded from the canons and shot towards William's body. The shock, alone, on William's face was enough for both Odd and Yumi to crack a small smile of satisfaction. He struggled to get his sword up to block, but Yumi held on to it for dear life. William scoffed and started to panic the closer the light got. He released the sword and vanished into smoke.

"That won't save you William." Odd smirked, shooting off another purple blast.

The purple canon blast directly hit William's smokey form. Yumi grabbed her hand, pushed William's blade off her body, and sat up to watch the show. The cloud of smoke immediately disintegrated into the air, William appearing suddenly inside the canon blast. Although it wasn't doing as much damage to him as it would to them, it still hurt like hell. Odd and Yumi again smiled at William's shrieks of virtual pain. The purple glow faded leaving William on the ground, defeated.

Odd ran over to Yumi, held a canon arm out to her to help her up. She raised an eyebrow to the unusual help and grabbed his "hand" pulling herself to her feet. Odd saw the extent of damage on her hand; it was barely being connected by what's left of the bleeding flesh. He frowned at the wound.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here fast enough." Odd apologized to ground.

"I'm okay Odd. Really. I just need to stop the bleeding somehow."

"Odd! Use your canons! They should be hot enough to burn the wound shut. That should stop the bleeding for now." Jeremy exclaimed.

"Yeah like Aelita did before."

"Damn you've been burned a lot then."

"Hurts, but it saved my life…twice now."

"Okay touch the end of it. It's most hot there." Odd instructed.

Yumi nodded and with her other hand holding the flesh together, Odd touched the burning hot canon to the bleeding cut. Again, Yumi's screams echoed in his head.

_I have to be getting used to all the screaming by now..._

Once the wound was closed they walked towards William's unconscious body.

"Jeremy deactivate canons."

"Deactivating Odd's canons."

Odd's arm flashed quick with purple then faded back to his normal hands and laser arrows.

"Is he alive?" Yumi asked.

"Should be. X.A.N.A's bug doesn't work on him, but I told him it'd hurt…virtually anyways." Odd said nudging William's body with his foot.

"T…thanks for saving me again Odd."

"Of course Yumi…wait again? Really twice now?" Odd said with an egotistical grin.

Yumi playfully punched his arm and remembered the first time this purple Cat had saved her life.

_Yumi gasps as her vision starts to fade; she sees a dark figure running towards her holding a large sword in the air. She drops her fans and falls to her knees. _

"_YOU DIE NOW YUMI!" William screams, throwing his sword straight at Yumi's vulnerable body._

_This is it. Goodbye Ulrich. _

_She lifts her head back up slowly to see the blurred figure of the sword coming closer and closer. Then a sudden flash of purple and a familiar voice woke her from her defeat._

"_YUMI! GET UP!" Odd screams, jumping in front of Yumi's collapsed body. _

_Impatient, he quickly throws Yumi on his back and summons his shield, deflecting the sword. William catches his sword and, again, rushes his enemy. He starts attacking Odd's shield over and over trying to get through. The relentless attacks from William's sword push Odd back, making it hard to keep the shield up and carry Yumi at the same time. _

"_Damn he's tough." Odd struggles to keep calm. _

"_O…Odd why did you-"_

"_I finished early with the "army" William had. No more came so I came here to help you. Good thing I did. What the hell was that Yumi? You gave up!" _

"_I can't-"_

"_Never say that. Not here. Not now. We have to save him. I can't do it without you."_

"I know I'm sorry Odd." She whispered the same words said then to herself and glanced back up at Odd looking at her questioningly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. We should go help the others."

"Not yet you guys. Ulrich and Aelita are okay. Odd, you and Yumi stay and keep William secured and hidden. Both of you need to rest a bit anyways." Jeremy said.

"Why rest?"

"Yumi because she was attacked by William and you because you used part of your upgrade. I know it was tiring. I can tell because there's a slight wheeze to your voice."

"Fine we'll rest for a few minutes. Okay Yumi?" Odd asked throwing William up on to his shoulder.

They headed back to their same cave to rest and to keep an eye on their unconscious enemy. Yumi used whatever bows, ribbons, or ties she had to bind William's arms, hands, legs, and feet together. She wasn't taking any chances. Odd then placed William on his back lying furthest from the caves entrance. The Cat had his arm pointed at William's head just in case a quick attack was needed. He looked over to Yumi and sighed. He knew she had to hate him still, but he didn't want to ask.

"Yumi you can take a nap if you want."

"Where would I nap Odd?"

"Well if it's not too uncomfortable for you…you can come over here and sleep on my lap."

"Your lap?"

"Yeah I can't do anything other than that since I have to watch this." He gestured to William.

"Wouldn't your boyfriend be pissed that a girl slept on your lap?" She teased with clear anger.

"No he'd understand. We're all friends anyways." Odd bluntly responded. He didn't want to fight about that now.

"Well glad he's so understanding then." She mumbled and crawled over to Odd.

He smiled and patted his lap. She grimaced and slowly laid her head down on the feline's lap.

"How long do we have to be here?" She asked, feeling weird that she didn't feel the slightest bit _un_comfortable.

"At least until your hand heals more and I rest up on energy. I'm not sure what to do about this though?" Odd said poking William in the head with his fist.

She giggled at the action which made Odd laugh as well. He missed this. Laughing with Yumi or just laughing in general. When was the last time? He couldn't remember.

Yumi quickly fell asleep and she could clearly see a fight going on. It was William against Odd and herself. Then she remembered that it was the battle he had saved her before…why did she have to see it again? She hated owing him anything…especially her life.

"_Is that all you got William Dunbar?" _

_William yells into the air and attacks Odd's shield again throwing Odd and Yumi to the ground. _

"_ODD!" Yumi yelled, trying to get to her feet._

"_YUMI STAY BEHIND ME!" Odd commanded pulling her behind his back. He slowly stood._

_William smiles and walks towards Odd, closing the gap. He places both hands on Odd's shield. Turning his head as if listening for something, he knocks on the shield. William nods and stabs the shield with his smaller wrist blade. The blade penetrates the shield causing it to crack, where William just knocked. _

"_O…Odd?" Yumi whispered in a worried tone. _

_Great._

"_AHAHAHA goodbye you foolish warriors." William laughs pointing behind the two._

_Odd and Yumi slowly look back and notice they are near the edge of the digital sea. Odd gasps, as he sees the shadow of a sword rise up. The Cat spins around to come face to face with William's sword. Right before the blade made contact with the shield, without thinking, Odd grabbed Yumi by her arm and threw her as far away from the attack as he could. Yumi landed near a group of rocks and slid to hide behind one. She wasn't hurt, but she was close enough to feel the strength behind William's attack. _

"ODD!" Yumi yelled. Her body jumped from Odd's lap, making the Cat jump as well.

"What the hell was that?" Odd exclaimed; face full of confusion and shock.

"I…I'm sorry I just had a…nightmare I guess." Yumi said shifting the weight of her body back and forth between her feet.

"You screamed my name. What happened to me or you or whatever!? What happened?" Odd asked without moving his arm from William's head.

"It was the last time you saved me. When you pushed me aside and took William's full attack."

"Oh yeah that. That's when you screamed my name I'm guessing."

"You don't remember? Did you not hear me?"

"No I remember, but I could barely hear anything after getting hit by _that_. I really thought I had died there, shocked the crap out of me when I was able to take another breath." Odd said with a chuckle.

"It's not funny Odd. It scared all of us when you got pushed over the edge. Then when you were about to let go to give us time to save Ulrich…it was stupid…selfish."

"It's not like I had any other choice. It was either fall in by myself or pull him down with me. What would you have done Yumi?"

"I would not have let go for anything. I would have thought of Ulrich."

"I am always thinking of Ulrich. He is _always_ on my mind. So I did think of him. What I didn't expect was Ulrich to be the one to actually save me."

"That surprised all of us." Yumi added.

"Okay Yumi. I can see you want to get something off your chest so lay it on me. Come on yell."

"Okay you want to know what I have wanted to say since I saw you kiss Ulrich. Here it is."

_PUNCH_

Yumi's uninjured fist, not hand…fist, connected with Odd's jaw; blood streaming from Odd's bottom lip.

"Damn. If I could hit a girl…" Odd growled rubbing his face.

"You can't so shut up and listen up Odd Della Robbia. You knew for a long time that Ulrich and I had feelings for each other and that I loved him. Still do. Then you suddenly _decide_ that you love him too just because he was taken by X.A.N.A during a mission and you felt that it was your mission in life to bring him home? What the hell? You pretty much stole him from me and at the same time you ripped out _my_ heart and crushed it with that kiss. I really wanted to punch you then, but held back because Ulrich was there and he was more important."

"So punch me again…if that'll make you feel better."

"It would, but do you really think that would change anything? Ulrich loves you too and that is what kills me the most. That I meant so little to him that he would cast me aside the first time someone else says they love him. The fact that it just had to be you makes it even more worse."

"You can't hate Ulrich for that though…"

"I could never hate Ulrich."

"But-"

"You want me to say it that badly Odd?"

"…"

"Fine. The answer is yes. I do hate you. We're not friends anymore Odd, just two Lyoko Warriors on a mission. Nothing you do or say will ever change that."

"Then why do you care so much about me when I get attacked or when I save your life. You had a damn nightmare about me Yumi."

"Maybe because I'm not completely heartless. I'd still care even if Sissy got hurt. So same goes for you."

_Or it could be that I just wanted to see you get hurt again…my heart knew it so my mind dreamt it._

Yumi shook her head to silence her thoughts.

Odd closed his eyes, lying his head back against the stone wall and sighed.

"_I will never forgive you for this Odd. I will take him back and you will pay for betraying a friend."_

At Yumi's threatening words, Odd quickly opened his eyes and saw Yumi again glaring at him.

"What did you mean?" He murmured.

"What?"

"When you said "I'd pay for betraying a friend." What did you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. You can either believe that whole karma stuff or the "an eye for an eye" story, but it just means that…you _will_ pay for it." She said turning away from him.

_Guess turning away means the conversation is over? What the hell am I supposed to do with this?_

Yumi huffed and stood at the cave's entrance.

"Jeremy, I think we've rested enough. What do we do with William?" Yumi asked.

"Not sure about that yet Yumi. Odd is he still unconscious?"

"Yes he-" Odd gasped.

"Odd?" Yumi spun around to see William had broken free and had a hand around Odd's neck.

"I'm afraid he isn't unconscious anymore Jeremy." William slithered his words like a snake.

"Jeremy!" Yumi screamed and ran towards Odd and William.

"Right!" Jeremy replied while getting Yumi's fans again.

The fans appeared in Yumi's grasp at the same time she threw them towards William's body.

"Odd you seem like a nice guy, do you mind?" William said casually spinning Odd on his knees, turning his back towards the attack.

"Jeremy DEVIRTUALIZE MY FANS!" Yumi panicked.

"I won't make it in time Yumi!" Jeremy exclaimed.

The first fan barely missed Odd's right shoulder blade, flying up towards the cave ceiling. Yumi breathed a sigh of relief that she immediately sucked back in when she saw the second fan going right for Odd's lower back. Foreheads touching, William grinned and turned Odd's face to whisper in his ear.

"This may hurt Odd." William whispered and his grin only grew when the fan's blade hit Odd's back completely distorting his face to show his pain.

"AHHH!" Odd let his cries escape without an effort to keep them silent. He didn't care, it hurt. The blade cut his lower back easily like a chain saw cutting into butter. The lower part of his uniform was drenched in blood, forming a puddle at his knees.

"Well that's enough of that." William said dropping the injured Cat and got to his feet.

Odd fell on his hands and knees to the cave's floor, soaked in his blood.

_Dammit. I'm officially sick of seeing my blood…or any blood for that matter. _

He quickly slapped a hand over the gushing gash on his back then frantically reached for his tail; for his makeshift tourniquet. The Cat's eyes went to William then to Yumi. She was displaying an apologetic look again that quickly switched to panic at William's approach.

"Looks like you healed up nicely Yumi, but can't say I'm done with you yet. Since you won't give me an answer you're really no use to me…to X.A.N.A so…" William gripped Yumi, again, by her hair and summoned his sword with his free hand.

"All you want…is an…answer? Then you'll let me…live?" Yumi said through gasps.

William released Yumi's hair and slowly nodded. He lowered his sword, stabbing it into the ground.

"An answer to…what?" Odd cut in.

"It doesn't concern you Odd. Not yet anyways…depending on her answer." William smirked.

"Yu…Yumi what is he talking…about?" Odd said crawling towards the two.

"Yumi? I'm waiting." William said robotically tilting his head to the side.

She frantically looked between Odd's bloody purple body and William's hand hovering over his sword's pommel. She dropped her head in defeat.

"I can't." She confessed.

"Then this is your end Yumi Ishiyama." William gripped his sword and placed it at her throat.

"Yumi! William don't!" Odd begged and grabbed William's ankle.

"Fool! You think your in any condition to fight me?" William glanced down at Odd.

"I know I'm not, but Yumi…" Odd grinned.

William's head turned back to Yumi who jumped back out of the cave, fans at the ready.

"What!?" William roared kicking Odd off and lunging towards Yumi.

"I'm not the only one you need to worry about William." Yumi smiled, eyes pointing behind him.

Odd was back on his feet with both arms out, ready to fire. William dropped his sword and froze.

"So you think you've outsmarted me?"

"Not at all." Yumi said quickly.

"Just know that we won't go down without a fight. Or many fights in this case." Odd grinned.

"You will go down though. Eventually. If not now then maybe when I take the other two out first." William mumbled disappearing into smoke, fading into the virtual ground.

"He's going after Ulrich and Aelita now." Yumi said, fans vanishing.

"We better head over there then." Odd said, grimacing at the pain in his thigh and now his back.

"I'll go. You can't fight in your condition Odd."

"Like you care. I'm going." Odd said running off towards Ulrich and Aelita.

"Great." Yumi sighed and ran after Odd.

"Yumi. Is there something you need to tell me?" Jeremy whispered.

"No. Why would you think there was?" She calmly responded.

"What William was talking about…are you going to do something-"

"Jeremy. Are you seriously saying you don't trust me?"

"No. I'm not just-"

"Then trust me and leave it at that."

"Right."

"I can see them!" Odd yelled, waving back at Yumi to hurry.

* * *

The two finally reached their fellow Lyoko Warriors, the army was gone and there was no sign of William.

"Guess we beat him here." Odd said walking towards Ulrich and Aelita.

Ulrich was bent over panting from complete exhaustion and Aelita could barely stand.

"You guys okay?" Yumi said kneeling down by Aelita.

"Y…yeah I'm fine." She quietly replies.

Ulrich just gave a thumbs up as he continued to pant. Odd ran to his side and gently ran a hand over his back.

"G…glad you g…uys are o…kay." Ulrich struggled to speak.

"Yeah we had to deal with William. He said he was coming over here so-"

"Is that why you said you…beat him…here?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah so I guess we did. Slow smokey ass sure does take his time doesn't he?" Odd chuckled.

"I'm really not ready to…fight him anyways." Ulrich said finally standing up straight.

"And that's exactly why I'm here now Ulrich Stern!" William yelled from behind the four.

"Oh…wow. What the hell!?" Odd exclaimed.

William had a sword in each hand about the size of his usual one and he was on top of huge Manta.

"That's got to be the mother Manta right?" Odd asked.

"I've never…seen one so…big." Aelita gasped.

"You'll never see one again. Goodbye pathetic warriors." William said raising both arms.

At the signal an entire X.A.N.A made army rose up underneath the mother Manta. The horde was filled with multiple krabs, kankrelats, hornets, megatanks, bloks, tarantulas, creepers, sharks, and kongres.

"Jer…Jeremy? Any help?" Yumi whispered, her voice shaking.

"The way tower is behind that army. I can't de-virtualize Ulrich unless he's inside the way tower. So…run?" Jeremy said trying to hide his worried nerves.

"Run!? There's no way we can just run around all that or even through it." Aelita said pulling on Yumi to get to herself up.

"What do we do?" Yumi asked Aelita, who simply shook her head.

"What are you two talking about? Do you honestly not know what we should do?" Odd said staring at the two like they were crazy. He glanced at Ulrich; his eyes were stuck on the devastating army.

"Ulrich?" Odd placed his hand on his shoulder. Ulrich didn't move…or blink.

"Ulrich!?" Odd said turning his body around to look at him.

"Wh…what?" Ulrich said, surprised.

"You okay?" Odd asked.

"I'm fine. It's just…all the armies X.A.N.A has sent before weren't nearly…like this."

"This is his real army Ulrich. He's desperate." Aelita said.

"What do we do about it then?" Yumi asked again, frustrated.

"We fight it." Ulrich said looking at Odd.

"Just what I was thinking." Odd said with a wink.

"You guys seriously think we can fight that?" Yumi said pointing at the herd of monsters.

Hand in hand they both nod, turning towards the approaching threat.

"Guess this is it then. We may all be dying today." Odd said.

"If I'm dying, then I'm dying with you." Ulrich said, giving Odd a quick peck on the cheek.

"We die together." Odd whispered.

"We die together." Ulrich repeated.

"Jeremy get ready to activate all of our upgrades." Aelita said, activating her wings.

"I have it set up already. I programmed all of you, excluding Ulrich, to be able to activate your own upgrades at any given time."

"That's amazing Einstein!" Odd said happily.

"Yumi since you've already used yours. You'll need to wait awhile before using it again." Jeremy explained.

"Right." Yumi nodded.

"Guys be careful out there! I'm actually working on something at the moment so I won't be of much help, but I'll replenish any needed weapons and ammo when I can. Good luck!"

"What could he be working on that's so important?" Odd asked Ulrich.

Ulrich just shrugged.

"Alright guys this could be our last fight, but we're not doing it alone. We are with each other in what may be our final hour. This is all for our friend. We're getting Ulrich home if it's the last thing we do!" Aelita yelled throwing her fist in the air.

Tears fell from Ulrich's eyes as the four Lyoko Warriors cheered, readying themselves for battle. The cheering and happy thoughts vanished instantly when the ground began shaking.

"What the hell is it no-" Odd lost his voice when he saw something else in the distance.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ulrich added.

Behind the massive army, coming in last was a Kolossus. With every step the virtual mountainous ground shook. Their mouths dropped at the sight.

"We're all dead." The boys said in unison. The girls nodded, mouths slowly closing.

Despite their fear, dread, and worries they prepared for battle. Odd tightened his tail tourniquet around his back and readied his laser arrows. Ulrich unsheathed his swords and stepped in front of the group, swords held out. Yumi activated her fans and slowly retreated behind the three to attack from a distance. Aelita prepared her Energy Fields in each hand and quickly flew into the air.

They've all been here way too long. This was it and they were ready.

**(A/N) Phew...that's the longest chapter so far and I made it this long because there's only one more chapter! :( Sad, but everything ends eventually. I'm debating whether or not to do a sequel...I guess it depends on how the next chapter ends. So we'll see. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please REVIEW! The last chapter will be up...I don't really want to say soon so it'll be up...eventually. :)**

**** DO YOU WANT A SEQUEL? I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. ^_^**


	20. Chapter 20

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Twenty - Wait and See**

"ODD!?"

The ground beneath his beaten body shook as he became surrounded by the massive army of monsters. Odd looked around only seeing a blur of shapes and colors; his head throbbed and all he could hear was his own name ringing in his head. Someone was calling for him…or to him. He didn't know who it was or where they were.

"ODD! ARE YOU OKAY!?"

He heard his name again this time attached with a question that needed an answer. He slowly lifted his head trying to search for the owner of the voice that needed him. His vision continued to confuse him; he couldn't focus on anything long enough to make sense of what he was looking at. Odd hung his head and stared at the ground, immediately noticing that it was red. He felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was lying on the ground, on his stomach, in a puddle of his own blood.

"I wouldn't get up if I were you. It may hurt."

Odd's body froze at the sound of the menacing voice. With the enemy around him; two feet planted themselves in front of his fallen body. Odd looked up at the stranger with the evil voice. Everything became clear as soon as his eyes locked with William's. William knelt down to Odd's level and brushed a hand across his blood stained cheek.

"I told you all many times…" He sighed.

"You "warriors" wouldn't be able to beat me."

"Shut…up."

"I'll say it again…you cannot defeat me." William stood and threw his foot into Odd's face adding another bruise to his cheek.

His head throbbed as his eyes finally became clear, Odd looked around the battlefield searching for his friends…for Ulrich. When he couldn't find any sign of them he tried to stand.

"Where do you think you're going Cat?" William said placing a tight grip on Odd's shoulder.

"Hell you think? I'm not just going to sit here on my bloody ass. I'm going…to find my friends and we're going to end you." Odd was right in William's face as he spat the last two words.

"They're already dead Odd."

"No. They're not William. I heard them calling for me."

"Oh really?" William lightly chuckled.

Odd looked to the ground trying to think back to what happened.

_How long have I been apart from the others? I need to find Ulrich!_

"This is the end Odd. My army has been greatly damaged by you little warriors, but many still remain. Even my Kolossus is still standing. Do you not see the blood around you? It is not just yours." William grinned at the Cat's confused expression.

He immediately felt the panic rise in his chest. Odd turned his head back and forth numerous times hoping to get a glance of his friends. His heart beat raced as his breathing became erratic.

"Do I really need to repeat myself Odd?" William's grip tightened on Odd's shoulder until Odd grimaced at the pain. He looked at the X.A.N.A symbol glued to William's forehead and eyes.

"This is the end."

With every breath he forced his body to take he had replaced the fear, dread, and panic with nothing but the purest of anger. His face didn't show it, the panic had faded until nothing else remained but the ferocity of the warrior. He wanted his friends. He wanted to leave…together. He wanted to see the life fade from those evil eyes, no longer caring they were William's same eyes.

"This is X.A.N.A's end. I said this before-" Odd grabbed the hand bruising his shoulder and bent it back until he heard it crack; causing William's face to distort in pain.

"- X.A.N.A I don't care what you do, but you will die. By my hands…you will die. I'll only need five minutes. Just five minutes and you will be dead." Odd dropped William's broken wrist and walked through the army that immediately parted at his presence. One brave krab stood in his way, it shakily powered up its lasers until William raised a hand to stop it.

"Let…him go. He wants to know what happened. Fine." William cursed as he bent his arm back into place and it flinched as it was no longer broken.

* * *

When Odd was far enough from the army he looked around more at the scene around him. He was terrified and sickened at what he saw. William was right. There was so much blood and since he wasn't even over here…it wasn't his. Thinking back to his blood…he checked over his own body and injuries.

"Damn…"

His entire body ached from intense pain. Several cuts and bruises covered his legs, arms, and torso, but that puddle was caused by something much worse. His hands continued to search his body making sure he touched his head, neck, arms, chest, and stomach. He felt pain when his hand grazed a certain gash on his right side just under his ribs. He pulled at his red stained clothing until he could clearly see the blood gushing injury.

"Ow. That really hurts." Odd gently touched the gash and felt something hard; there was something stuck inside the wound.

"What the hell is that?" He continued to probe the injury; slowly sticking his fingers inside and trying to grab at the foreign object. Flinching every time he had it then lost his grip. Several minutes had passed and many failed attempts at getting the thing out…he had had enough.

"DAMMIT! FINE STAY THERE!" Odd yelled at the wound. He moved his tail tourniquet from his earlier wound on his back to the fresh bleeding one. He began walking again searching the area for his friends…hoping they were alive, but with all this blood…no he couldn't think about that.

"Jeremy? Can you hear me? What the hell happened? Where are the others?"

After several minutes of nothing but silence the panic, once again, began to rise.

"Jeremy!? ULRICH!? YUMI!? AELITA!? ANYBODY!" Odd collapsed to his knees and dug his fingers into the virtual mountainous dirt. His head ached as he forced himself to remember what happened. Quick flashes of the event went through his clouded mind. He saw himself and his three friends preparing for the final battle…

_Odd tightened his tail tourniquet around his back and readied his laser arrows. Ulrich unsheathed his swords and stepped in front of the group, swords held out. Yumi activated her fans and slowly retreated behind the group to attack from a distance. Aelita prepared her Energy Fields and quickly flew into the air._

Then everything vanished and all he could see was the dirt intertwined with his fingers. Odd threw his fist in the air and slammed it back on the ground. He repeated the painful action over and over until his fist bled.

"DAMMIT!" He screamed at the bloodied ground.

Odd sat back on his knees and slowly analyzed the area around his broken form. He saw numerous cracks and craters in the ground.

_That's where we fell when…wait!_

"I…I remember!" Odd exclaimed. Jumping to his feet, he stumbled towards the most familiar crater in the ground. He stood at the center of it and the moments from before all came rushing back at once, making his head continue to throb.

* * *

"_Aelita. Yumi. You two attack from a distance. Odd and I will attack head on. Watch each others' backs. Got it!?" Ulrich commanded nodding to Odd. _

"_Right." The girls said waiting for the order to attack. _

"_Odd." Ulrich said. Eyes glued to the Cat's. _

"_Ulrich?" Odd was taken aback by the look on Ulrich's face._

"_P…please be careful okay?" _

"…_Yeah." That was the only word Odd could push threw his lips. He could tell Ulrich was scared…and that fear consumed what hope Odd had left…that this would end well._

_Ulrich turned back to face the threat. He threw his arm into the air, starting the attack, and ran to fight. Odd quickly blinked and followed, already shooting off multiple laser arrows. Yumi threw her fans at the closest monsters and as soon as she caught them, she threw them again. Aelita did the same with a continuous attack of Energy Fields. Ulrich smirked._

"_I really need to get me something to throw. Until then…I gotta get closer." Ulrich jumped into the air and landed on the nearest krab. He quickly stabbed it in the head immediately going to the next one; getting rid of a row of ten krabs. _

"_Odd!" Ulrich said pointing at the "mother" manta. _

_Odd nodded killing the last blok. He ran to where Ulrich was. _

"_I need your help to get up there." _

"_You want to get up there…? With William?" Odd said with a questioning look. _

_Ulrich shrugged. _

"_Might as well kill the main guy first."_

"_You haven't played video games in awhile…usually you'd kill everything else fir-"_

"_Odd. I'm done playing games. Help me."_

"_Okay." _

_Odd put his hands together as a net and held Ulrich's foot, to launch. _

"_Wait." Ulrich said stopping Odd._

"_What?" Odd said looking up. _

_Ulrich put his fingers under Odd's chin and pulled to make their lips touch. Gentle as the kiss was…it held the feeling of sorrow within. Odd could definitely feel it; not wanting to admit it, but that sort of kiss made him sick to his stomach. _

"_Ulrich?" _

"_Come on Odd." _

"_But-"_

"_Odd." _

_Odd slowly dropped his head and tightened his grip on Ulrich's foot as he threw the warrior into the air above the "mother" manta. Ulrich landed on top of the manta directly behind William._

"_Hey William. How about we end this?" Ulrich said readying his swords. _

"_It'll end soon enough Ulrich Stern." William gripped his sword and charged towards Ulrich._

_Odd could hear the battle going on between William and Ulrich. He knew he had to get up there to help, but he had no way of getting up there alone._

"_Stay safe Ulrich." Odd whispered to himself then resumed his attack on X.A.N.A's army. _

_William knocked one of Ulrich's swords out of his hand, stunning him, then jumped on top of him. William had a grip on Ulrich's sword hand and pinned the other with his sword. Ulrich was trapped. _

"_Now what Ulrich? You of all people can't defeat me. Your friends at least got their upgrades, but you…you've got nothing. You're weak." _

"_If I'm so weak…why does your master want my body as his vessel?"_

"_I asked that same question, but all he said was…"wait and see." William winked. _

"_What the hell does that mean?"_

"_Exactly what he said…wait and SEE!" William yelled taking Ulrich's sword and grabbing him by the neck. William held Ulrich, dangling him above the ground. _

"_This is sort of like Déjàvu for you isn't it Ulrich? Maybe when you fall…you'll die this time." _

"_I thought you…couldn't…kill me." Ulrich choked out. _

"_Dead or alive X.A.N.A would still use your body his vessel. Of course it's better for a vessel to be alive…but-" _

_Ulrich's eyes grew wide as William released the grip on his neck. _

"_We'll wait and see what happens." William chuckled as he watched Ulrich fall. _

_His body felt heavy, but it moved in slow motion as he fell toward the ground. His eyes searched frantically for any of his friends. Failing to find Aelita or Yumi, he saw a blur of purple fighting against three megatanks. _

"_ODD!" Ulrich screamed as loud as he could._

* * *

_Odd had never been good at defeating megatanks…that was more Ulrich's and Yumi's specialty. They were trying to force him to move towards the edge of the digital sea. _

"_Bastards. There's no way in hell I'm going in there." Odd shot off his laser arrows, only defeating one megatank. The other two closed in, powering up their lasers._

"_Great. I wish Ulrich was here-" _

"_ODD!" _

_Odd's ears rang with Ulrich's shriek. He jumped over the remaining megatanks as they began firing their lasers, Odd getting many cuts covering his body. He couldn't care about that right now he had to find Ulrich!_

"_ULRICH! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Odd screamed. His eyes scanning the battlefield. Avoiding the monsters, he continued to search. _

"_LOOK UP!" Ulrich yelled._

_Odd did just that and saw a yellow clothed figure falling from the sky. _

"_Oh…no…" Odd panted out. _

_He again searched the battlefield for any sign of Aelita. She had wings…it'd be much easier for her to save him, but he didn't see her or Yumi. _

"_WHAT THE HELL!? O…okay guess it's just me!" Odd exclaimed. He jumped onto a nearby krab then made his way to the nearest manta. He dug his claws into the manta's back to hold on and steer, which was difficult. Odd positioned himself under Ulrich's falling body, but the manta fought against the leash. He knew he'd have to jump for Ulrich. _

"_I'm coming Ulrich!" Odd put all his strength into his legs and crouched down. He took a deep breath then threw his body into the air, he over shot the height and ended above Ulrich. Odd held out his hand out below to Ulrich._

"_Give me your hand!" He yelled. Ulrich obeyed and reached for Odd's. _

_Ulrich looked up at William's grinning face, then at Odd's panicked expression, then he turned to look at the ground, which wasn't to far away. _

"_What have I done?" Ulrich said aloud. _

_Odd turned his head to the side confused and yelled again. _

"_Dammit grab my hand!" _

_Ulrich and Odd's fingers intertwined. Odd pulled Ulrich into him and wrapped his arms around his body as they fell to the ground, creating their own crater that seemed too much like a grave. _

"_Odd?" Ulrich coughed out. _

"…"

"_Odd!?" _

"_I'm…here Ul…rich." Odd's breathing was ragged. _

_Ulrich sat up as he examined the crater their bodies created. He looked over his body, which was covered in bruises where he hit the ground, but he was expecting more damage from the fall. Shock filled him when he realized that he was laying on Odd, his head neatly tucked under Odd's neck. Odd's body was all cut up, bruised, and bleeding. It was much worse than Ulrich's condition. He about jumped to get off the Cat's body._

"_O…Odd! Oh my…are you okay!?" Ulrich said placing his hands on Odd's bloodied face, brushing the hair out of his face. _

"_I'm fine Ul…rich. You…feel that?"_

"_Not as much as you did. How are you not dead!?" Ulrich forced the tears to stay hidden. _

_Odd held the hands that cradled his pained face. _

"_Cats always land…on all fours…they know how to slow down their speed…when falling."_

"_Then why are you on your back Odd?"_

"_I slowed us down enough to move underneath you. I had to…protect you."_

"_Why the hell would you do that!? I don't know what I was thinking! I shouldn't have called you! I'm sorry Odd…"_

"_Why…? You've been…hurt too much Ulrich. I couldn't stand…you getting hurt…again. Especially when I could…prevent it." Odd's words made him cough up blood. _

"_Okay...stop talking. I'm so sorry. I should've listened to you." Ulrich hung his head. _

"_It's okay. I'll be fine, but you need to…help me up." _

"_You can't get up. What if you broke something!? You shouldn't move."_

"_Either you help…me or I'll do it…myself. I'm not staying here." _

_Ulrich hesitantly helped Odd sit up. He grimaced at every pain sound Odd made, but thankfully nothing was broken._

"_See…didn't hurt at all." Odd chuckled; his voice raspy. _

_Ulrich gently wrapped his arms around Odd's bleeding shoulders. As badly as he wanted to…he didn't squeeze. Odd's arms hurt like hell, but he made them wrap themselves around the one he loved. He closed his eyes and put his forehead on Ulrich's shoulder. _

"_Aw. At least with you two like "that" I'll kill two love birds with one sword." William was standing at the edge of their crater raising one of Ulrich's swords. _

_Ulrich's body jumped as he turned towards William. Odd's eyes shot open to see the blade coming straight for Ulrich's back. Regardless of already hearing what Ulrich would be saying after this, he threw Ulrich's body out of the way of danger, again, taking the sword into his stomach just below his ribs. _

"_No! Odd!" Ulrich jumped at William, pushing his body away from the crater. William gripped the sword pulling it with him, the tip breaking off in Odd's body. _

"_Guh." Odd gasped as the blade left his body, or most of it. He placed a hand over his stomach and made himself get to his knees. _

_Odd climbed his way out of the hole and saw Ulrich and William fighting hand to hand. Both of them taking each other's punches, jabs, and kicks. William was laughing his head off, not a single punch hurt him. Knowing it was completely one-sided, Ulrich never backed down. Odd couldn't watch this fight continue when Ulrich was becoming even more bruised. He stumbled until he got to his feet. Panting, Odd lifted both arms and pointed them at William. _

"_Activate upgrade: part one." Odd mumbled. _

_His arms glowed purple as they reshaped into cannons. He dropped his arms at his side, since he was injured so badly they were much heavier than last time. _

"_Will…iam." Odd wobbled closer to William and Ulrich. They both froze at the sight of the bleeding purple Cat with cannons for hands. Seeing his body so torn up and yet he was still fighting…made Ulrich's heart hurt. He looked like he could drop at any moment._

"_Odd what're you doing?" Ulrich said taking a few steps towards the Cat. _

"_William. You…remember these. Right?" Odd ignored Ulrich and limped closer to William. _

_William nodded and dropped his fists to his sides, grinning. _

"_What are you…smiling for?" Odd said through pants._

"_You never know when to quit do you Della Robbia? You fell from that height with Ulrich on top of you…then you take a blade to your stomach…and you even activate a powerful upgrade! Either you're crazy…or you just don't care if you die." _

"_I do…care. I just want this to…end. You…to…end." Odd's cannons begin to glow._

_William's grin grows wider when the ground begins to shake. Ulrich's eyes move behind Odd then they move up. Odd followed Ulrich's gaze to see the Kolossus standing right behind him. _

"_Now what Odd? You still going to shoot me?" _

_Odd returned his gaze to William's and nodded. William's face distorted in confusion. _

"_Whether or not I shoot you…that-"_

_Odd's eyes gestured to the Kolossus. _

"_-is going to try to kill…me. So…"_

_Instead of pointing both cannons at William, he throws an arm up to aim at the Kolossus. _

"_I'll just shoot you both." _

_Before William could say another word, Odd fires his cannons. The power from the cannons pushes Ulrich to the ground. The blast throws the Kolossus over, making him stumble backwards into nearby mountains. When the smoke faded, William's body, again, was motionless. _

"_There. Take that…you bas…tard." Mind fogged, vision blurred, Odd deactivates his cannons and drops to the ground on his stomach. Blood pooling around him. _

"_Odd?" Ulrich jumped to his feet, ran to his fallen lover, and began to shake his body. _

"_ODD!" Ulrich yelled louder. He turned Odd's face to the side and saw that his eyes were closed and blood was streaming out of his mouth. _

"_N…no. Odd?" Ulrich whispered, brushing a hand over his, still warm, face. _

_Ulrich closed his eyes and mentally searched for his other sword. Linking the connection, his sword flew to his hand. He gripped it tight and walked over to William's defeated body. Holding the blade above William's chest, eyes cold and without hesitation Ulrich stabbed William repeatedly. Knowing it was pointless, but it made him feel better if only slightly. _

"_Ul…rich." Odd gasped._

_Ulrich gasped as he turned to look at Odd. He lifted his head to look at Ulrich. They both shared a relieved smile. _

"_Odd." Ulrich sighed walking towards Odd until something grabbed his ankle. _

_William awoke, pulling the blade from his chest. He slowly rose to his feet, his face only inches from Ulrich's. _

"_You really thought you could kill me like that?" William spat evilly._

"_No. Just made me feel better to stab you repeatedly." Ulrich replied bluntly, unafraid._

"_I guess that would make anyone feel good." William said stabbing Ulrich through his thigh with his own sword. _

"_Ahh!" Ulrich yelled gripping his leg, falling to the ground. _

"_I'm not really feeling good yet." William said with a sigh, sending the blade into Ulrich's other thigh then into the hand that gripped at the wound. _

"_Ulrich!" Odd screamed, voice hoarse, immediately hurting his throat. _

"_Don't worry Odd. You're next." William said hitting Ulrich on the back of the neck with the pommel of the sword. Ulrich fell to the ground, unconscious, covered in his blood. _

_William held his hand in the air motioning the "mother" manta to come. She quickly flew from the sky and landed next to William. He picked Ulrich up and threw him on the manta's back. _

"_Take him." William commanded and the manta left, flying back to the sky. _

"_N…no!" Odd screamed. _

_William walked towards Odd and kicked him hard in the side, making him cough up more blood. He quickly kicked him in the head. Odd's head already throbbed and the kick to his head only made it worse along with his vision blurring more. He slowly lifted his head and suddenly couldn't remember where he was or who was standing above him, but he didn't care anymore as he allowed darkness to take over, letting his mind go and his body pass out._

**(A/N) Okay...I know I said that Chapter 20 would be the last chapter...but it WILL NOT be the last chapter. I started writing it and it became wayyy too long so I broke it up into even more chapters. So there will be 24 chapters then it's the end! Until the sequel... :) A new chapter will be uploaded everyday this week; the last chapter being uploaded on Friday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! REVIEWS are desired. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Twenty One - Even Einstein Can Fight**

Odd gasped as he was back in the present. He noticed that he was now lying down in the crater like he had been before when he fell. Except…Ulrich wasn't there with him. Even though he was worried about his Ulrich and his friends…Odd didn't want to move. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight much longer in this condition…everything hurt and he just wanted to stay there, hands crossed, lying in the crater.

_I'm sorry Ulrich. He took you again…and I couldn't…save you and now I'm…_

Tears slowly fell from Odd's eyes. He placed a hand over his eyes and cried. Odd was scared that the next time he'd see Ulrich…that he'd have the X.A.N.A symbols in his eyes again. He couldn't handle seeing him like that again. Odd took a shaky breath…

"Jer…Jeremy? Are you…th…ere?" Odd said through sobs.

"P…please answer Jeremy. I need…help."

"Odd."

Odd pulled his hand off his face and quickly sat up. Dizzy, he climbed out of the crater and came face to face to someone he'd thought he'd never see…here.

"Um…you came." Odd didn't know if that was a question or not, but he was quite surprised.

"Yeah I did. Things were looking bad here…so I came to help."

"Thanks Einstein." Odd said grinning up at his friend.

Jeremy smiled back and held his hand out to Odd. The Cat gladly took it and threw his arms around him, thanking him again. Jeremy patted Odd's back as they parted.

"Why is it you came to Lyoko anyways Einstein?"

"Basically X.A.N.A hid all of what's going on from me and I got worried. I could still hear everything, but I couldn't see you guys or talk back. So the only thing I could do to help was to come here." Jeremy saw that every move Odd took made him grimace in pain.

"You okay?"

"Not really. You pretty much know what happened right? Got laser blasted, fell from the sky, got stabbed in the stomach, and then used an upgrade. I'm pretty…pooped." Odd said between pants.

"I can see that Odd. You look…barely alive." Jeremy said…the last words stinging his heart.

Odd placed his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

"I'm alive Jeremy. When need to find the others. Help me."

Jeremy held Odd's arm and threw his arm around Odd's waist to help him walk.

"So…"

"What?"

"You don't look that bad here. I thought you'd be nerdy looking…but you actually look…tough." Odd said tilting his head to the side to analyze his friend. Jeremy's uniform was close to the same design as Ulrich's except Jeremy's was dark blue and gray, with his weapons on each hip. Odd could only see one of his eyes because one was covered by a black circular device that was wrapped around his head. It looked like an eye patch or a teched up monocle…Odd didn't know for sure.

Jeremy playfully nudged him.

"I would've been here sooner, but it took me awhile to program all my upgrades to the same level as you guys…excluding Ulrich."

"So that's what you were working on earlier?"

Jeremy nodded.

"So…"

"Yes Odd?" Jeremy said, getting annoyed.

"What's your weapon?"

"You didn't see them when you "looked" me over?" Jeremy said gesturing at two twin pistols on each hip.

"Guns!? You get guns? Why?" Odd said…looking like the little kid left out of the game.

"We all chose our own weapons…remember Odd?"

Odd huffed in aggravated defeat.

Only seconds passed before…

"So…"

"Ugh…what Odd?" Jeremy said, now, really annoyed.

"Can you even use them?" Odd said pointing at the guns.

"Yes. Well here I can at least...this-" Jeremy touched the black device over his eye, as he did a small target appeared at the center of the circle.

"This helps me aim with absolute perfection." Jeremy said with pride.

"That's awesome Einstein! Okay…anyways where are we going? Odd said, realizing they've been walking this whole time.

"Well after you left the spot where you fell…X.A.N.A moved also. So I guess we'll walk around until we see him or his army…or-"

"AELITA!" Odd yelled pointing at the same cave they all once hid in.

She was flying around like she had a broken wing, fighting off a small part of the army that was attacking.

"Come on! We have to help her!" Jeremy yelled, slowly pulling Odd's arm off his neck.

Odd was surprised at his eagerness to go right into fighting…but it _was_ Aelita. So he understood.

"You go ahead. I'm coming." Odd said, trying his best to hide the pain.

_Dammit I can barely move…let alone fight. What am I supposed to do?_

* * *

One of the krabs in the herd shot Aelita in the back when she turned to fight megatank.

"AH!" She yelped as she fell to the ground. Gripping her shoulder, she stood again and threw off multiple Energy Fields at the cowardly krab. She turned back and noticed she had been surrounded by the remaining monsters.

"This…is it." Aelita said, her hands following her tears to the ground.

A line of megatanks started their lasers, pointed right at Aelita's head. Suddenly, shots went off that sounded like explosions. Startled, Aelita looks up to see Jeremy standing in front of her, guns up, the megatanks vanished.

"Jer…Jeremy!?" Aelita exclaimed.

"Go back to the cave Aelita! I'm here now." Jeremy ordered as he ran towards the mob of monsters.

Aelita stared at the sight of Jeremy running _towards_ danger. Her mouth agape, she slowly realized someone was helping her off the ground. Aelita turned to the hand gripping her shoulder, a purple paw. She smiled at put her hand over the comforting paw.

"Odd." She sobbed.

"It's o…kay Aelita. Einstein got…off his butt to join in." Odd half chuckled.

She instantly saw his bleeding wounds and that he was out of breath.

"Were you _running_ in this condition!?" She gasped.

He was so out of breath that all he could do was nod. Even if he didn't nod she still knew the answer. She removed his _helping_ hand from her shoulder and instead _helped_ him back inside the cave.

"I had wanted this to be a happy moment, but you're both in bad conditions." Aelita said reaching the back of the cave.

"A happy…moment? How-" Odd's mouth stopped making words, but still hung open.

Ulrich was lying down, unconscious, at the very back of the cave. Aelita had left an Energy Field at the back for Ulrich's light.

"He's…he's here? How? How is he here? X.A.N.A…mother bitch manta took him!?" Odd stammered over his questions. There were too many, but he was beyond happy to see Ulrich again. He turned to Aelita…

"How-"

"I'll explain later. I'm going to help Jeremy. You two need to rest. He was in bad shape too when I found him. Maybe you can get him to wake up." Aelita whispered as she sat Odd down next to Ulrich and ran back out of the cave.

* * *

Odd ran a hand over Ulrich's sleeping face. He couldn't control the tears and he didn't care, he let himself cry. He was happy, but scared as to what Ulrich's eyes would look like when he woke up.

_Better to know now rather than later…might as well get it over with…_

"Ulrich?" Odd began shaking him.

Ulrich groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Unaware to where he was, he was alert, grabbing his sword. He tried to stand, but _something_ held him down. Ulrich looked at the purple paw holding him down…he immediately began to cry and grabbed at the hand, pulling it close.

"Odd." Ulrich sobbed, his head hung, his lips touching Odd's hand.

"I can't believe…I found you again." Odd joined in with Ulrich's sobbing.

"I thought I really lost you…when the manta took you away." Odd pulled his hand from Ulrich's and wrapped an arm around Ulrich's shoulders, pulling him close; he kissed the top of his head.

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Odd released Ulrich's shoulder and turned to face him. He looked him over…and frowned.

"You look terrible Ulrich."

"Thanks…tell me what you _really _think." Ulrich joked as he slowly sat up.

Now eye level with his love, Odd glared at Ulrich. He, surprisingly, wasn't in a joking mood. Ulrich sighed.

"Odd. I'm…fine. It's just a few stab wounds." Ulrich said pointing to both his thighs then his hand.

"Yeah just a few." Odd said sarcastically.

"And what about _you_. Look at what you did to yourself." Ulrich said irritated.

"What _I _did? What the hell? It was all X.A.N.A-"

"No. You decided to jump into the air and then fall…taking all the impact just to protect me. Then what do you do? You take a blade to your stomach for me…then stupidly activate your upgrade while in that state. You're an idiot…that's trying to get…himself…killed." Ulrich's body curled into itself. His head lying in his own lap and cried. Odd sighed and uncurled his love. He put his hands on either side of Ulrich's face so he'd look at him.

"I don't mean to make you so upset. I can't help _but_ protect you Ulrich and I'm going to continue to do it-"

"Odd!" Ulrich gasped, but Odd put a finger to his lips.

"I will take any blade any bullet _any_ attack X.A.N.A sends our way just to protect you."

Ulrich just stared at him unable to blink and asked. Already knowing the answer.

"Why?"

Odd smiled and pulled Ulrich's face to his. This kiss had a desperate feeling to it. Odd was just happy this kiss didn't make him sick like the last one. Odd deepened the kiss, pushing Ulrich back to the ground. Ulrich moaned into the kiss, allowing Odd's tongue to explore the depths of his mouth. Ulrich's hands wandered down to Odd's lowered back. He pulled the Cat closer, making their bodies collide with force.

"Ah!" They both gasped, not in pleasure, but pain. Completely lost in the moment, they forgot they were both badly injured. Odd's stab wound was now throbbing as he gently lifted his body off of Ulrich.

"Sorry about that…" Odd said embarrassingly rubbing the back of his head.

Ulrich couldn't hold back his laughter. Odd smiled and quickly joined in.

_It feels so good to laugh with him again. I've missed this._

* * *

"What's so funny?" Odd and Ulrich turn to look at Jeremy and Aelita standing at the caves entrance.

"Ulrich! You're awake!" Aelita exclaimed; sitting down next to the two. Jeremy followed close behind, staring at Ulrich. He hasn't seen him in who knows how long.

"You guys okay?" Odd asked, snapping Jeremy out of his trance.

"Y…yeah there weren't too many of them. The megatanks took the longest…they wouldn't open up." Jeremy said tending to his cuts and Aelita's wound she got on her back.

"Jeremy?" Ulrich said tilting his head to the side.

Odd held back his laughter. He knew what was coming.

"What Ulrich?" Jeremy said confused.

"I thought you would look…nerdy here. You actually look…kinda tough." Ulrich said in a surprised tone. And at that Odd burst into laughter with Ulrich and Aelita soon joining in. Jeremy just sat there smiling and returned to Aelita's wound.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Yumi?" Jeremy asked after he finished with the wounds. He looked at his three friends and no one said a thing.

"When was the last time anyone saw her?"

"When we charged the army. We kinda went our own ways, but we stayed close enough to each other to watch each other's backs." Ulrich explained.

"I hope she's okay." Aelita whispered.

"I'm sure she's fine. You know Yumi…a fire always raging in that one." Odd joked. He felt bad because no one knew where Yumi was, but at the same time he didn't really care. She hated him and wanted Ulrich to herself so if she wasn't here…Odd didn't want to worry about it.

* * *

After a few minutes of silence Odd decided to break it.

"Aelita how did Ulrich get here?" Odd asked, taking Ulrich's hand in his. Ulrich, also curious, turned his attention to the pink headed warrior. Aelita took a deep breath and stared at the two curious boys.

"During our battle with X.A.N.A's army, I knew we had been separated from you two. Yumi was still with me at the time. We fought off many of X.A.N.A's monsters and at the same time I searched for you two from the sky."

"What happened to Yumi then? Did you see her after that?" Odd asked. Aelita shook her head and continued with her story.

"Then it was just me. I didn't want to risk fighting against that army alone or having you guys fight it alone so I went searching for you guys." Aelita stopped and looked at Ulrich. He just stared back, waiting for her to continue.

"That's when I heard you scream for Odd. I didn't know why you screamed and I didn't know where you were, but I continued to search frantically." Aelita had to stop again. She hated talking about being alone…again…in Lyoko. Jeremy grabbed her hand and gave her a light squeeze, encouraging her to finish.

"I kept flying around above the battlefield looking for any sign of you guys, but I never found you. I decided to head towards this cave, since we all knew where it was…I thought it'd be best to wait. But on my way here…the mother manta and few smaller mantas flew past me, pushing me towards the ground. At first I started flying in the opposite direction, but I saw…b…blood dripping from the mother's back. I thought she'd been injured. So I turned back to attack her while she was weak."

"That's so unlike you. You know…?" Odd jokingly gasped.

"I thought I could level the battlefield somewhat if I took out something _that_ big." Aelita shyly grinned.

"So I attacked her and I was completely shocked when I found out she wasn't injured…at all. She fought back like I was trying to kill her children."

"That's the ferocity of the mother manta. She was trying to protect what was hers." Jeremy pointed out.

"When I got high enough above her I aimed at the target on her back and that's when I saw that the blood wasn't hers."

"It was mine." Ulrich stated looking at the ground, gripping Odd's hand tighter. Aelita nodded.

"I saw Ulrich unconscious and bleeding on her back. It wasn't her children she was protecting it was X.A.N.A's new vessel."

"How'd you get him out of there!?" Odd asked, completely into the story.

"Even though Ulrich was on her back, I threw many of my Energy Fields at her."

"WHAT!? You attacked her while she carried Ulrich!? What if she vanished and he fell!?" Odd exclaimed jumping to his feet. Since he was still holding Ulrich's hand…Ulrich yanked him back down.

"Shut up you idiot. I wouldn't have fallen…are you forgetting Aelita has wings?" Ulrich said calmly.

"Ah. Right. Sorry. Go on." Odd said through his teeth.

Aelita sighed, but continued on.

"He was in the center of her back so I attacked all the areas around him. I continued throwing my Energy Fields until she vanished, dropping Ulrich."

"Uh huh." Odd said nodding.

"But I _caught_ him." Aelita said slightly annoyed.

"And that's when you brought him here?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes. I brought him here and closed his wounds to stop the bleeding. Then the army began attacking us again. Then you two showed up."

Ulrich shakily stood and walked over to Aelita. Everyone watched with confusion. He sat down next to her and wrapped his uninjured hand around her, half hugging her.

"Thank you Aelita. You saved my life. I would've been taken…straight to X.A.N.A if you hadn't…" Ulrich said, holding back overly grateful tears. She smiled, without caring to hold back her own intruding tears, and kissed Ulrich's cheek. She looked up at Odd and he nodded wiping his eyes.

_Yes thank you Aelita. I really owe you one this time. _Odd smiled at his thought. It's been awhile since he was this happy…with everyone.

**(A/N) And there's Chapter 21 for you! I didn't want Ulrich to leave...just yet so Aelita saved him before X.A.N.A got him. Well not much to say about this chapter other than that a new chapter will be uploaded tomorrow. Please look forward to it and REVIEW! Thanks :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Twenty Two - A Bad Idea or No Idea?**

"Okay guys we need to find Yumi." Jeremy said, standing.

"Right." Aelita said, parting ways with Ulrich; they both stood. Odd stayed quiet and seated, until Ulrich came behind him and kneed him in the back. Odd swung his head back to look up at Ulrich.

"Up Odd." Ulrich ordered. Odd huffed and obeyed.

"Where should we start looking?" Odd asked, feeling dread creeping up.

"Maybe we should go back to where you guys started fighting X.A.N.A's army." Jeremy suggested.

"Yeah she could still be back there figh-" All the breath in Aelita's body was forcibly pushed out when a smokey form slammed itself into her body. She flew hitting the cave's back wall with a loud crash.

"AELITA!" The boys said in unison. Jeremy was the first by her side. Odd and Ulrich stood in front of the two, as the smokey form retreated to the cave's entrance and began to change.

"Well then…guess I don't have to ask how you ended up here." William said sending a glare between Aelita and Ulrich.

"William." Odd spat, stepping in front of Ulrich. Which Odd knew he hated it by the groan Ulrich let out, but he didn't care…he had to protect Ulrich from this monster.

"I actually not surprised you're still alive Della Robbia. I think I'm the only one who _doesn't_ underestimate your strength."

"Good. Glad I'm finally getting through that **thick** skull of yours. It's over." Odd said raising his arm; preparing to fire his laser arrows, but William held a hand up to stop him.

"Are you playing with me? I'm sure you don't mean to attack me knowing it wouldn't do you any good. I'm the one who has you cornered like vermin." William evilly grinned and summoned his sword in one hand and Ulrich's unbroken sword in the other.

"Dammit! He has my sword!" Ulrich exclaimed, clearly pissed.

"And that's not all." William said, causing the boys to exchange confused looks. William moved to the side allowing a smokey sphere to appear. Inside held a badly injured, unconscious, Yumi.

"YUMI!" Ulrich yelled, running at William, ready to attack. Odd put his arm up to stop him.

"Go help Aelita! I'll get her back!" Before Ulrich could argue against Odd's recklessness, with both arms up continuously firing laser arrows, the Cat charged towards William.

"Dammit Odd. Jeremy go help Odd I'll take care of Aelita." Ulrich said, pushing Jeremy to fight.

"But-" Jeremy protested.

"Go. Watch out for that idiot." Ulrich said, tearing Jeremie's hands from Aelita. Jeremy closed his eyes and nodded, running after Odd.

"He'll b…be f…ine Ul…rich." Aelita said, struggling to breathe.

"Aelita. Please don't talk, just rest." Ulrich pleaded trying to keep himself calm and focused.

"We'll be ok…ay. Every…thing will b…be okay." Aelita reached a hand up wiping away an escaped tear from Ulrich's cheek. No matter how much she wanted to comfort Ulrich, she was too weak to stay awake much longer. As her hand began to fall Ulrich quickly grabbed it and pressed it back to his cheek. She smiled as sleep took her.

"This will end today Odd. Right now." William said jumping back from Odd's attacks, he crossed his blades and threw them in the air. The two blades fell to ground, piercing it. William snapped his fingers and the smokey sphere, holding Yumi, flew to the top of a nearby mountain. His stance changed as he called Odd to attack him without a weapon.

"Liar. You're still underestimating me if you think you don't need a weapon to fight, but I see where this is going. Hand to hand it is then." Odd jumped into the air above William and kicked his leg out landing his heel on William's head. Odd smirked until he saw William had blocked the blow with his arms. William returned the smirk and grabbed Odd's ankle, throwing him into the caves outside wall. The shock from the attack shook throughout the cave, echoing off the stone walls.

_Odd. Please stay safe. _Ulrich prayed as he gently rubbed Aelita's hand.

William chuckled as he made his way towards Odd's body.

"ODD!" Jeremy yelled, jumping between the two, pointing both guns at William.

"Hmm. I never thought I'd see you here. Anyhow, welcome to Lyoko." William half bowed then vanished into smoke.

"Odd! Get up!" Jeremy said pulling on Odd's arm.

"Ugh. I'm up." Odd moaned.

"No. Stand up Odd. William disappeared. We need to be ready when he attacks."

"Right."

Jeremy pulled Odd up and they stood back to back, weapons at the ready. They were surrounded by a gray mist.

"Where could he be?" Jeremy said his thought out loud.

Odd closed his eyes and put all his concentration into his hearing. He had to be ready this time. Suddenly he heard something cut through the air. The Cat turned his body pointing his arm at nothing, he fired. The misty space distorted reshaping itself into William.

"You found me." William sung as he summoned his and Ulrich's swords to his hands. He waved them out then swung them together like scissors cutting down his enemies. Odd felt the attack coming before the scissors could cut.

"Jeremy duck!" Odd screamed, following his own order. They both ducked in time and rolled out of the way of the following attacks.

"_Why_ do you even bother?" William whined.

Jeremy and Odd stood there, weapons pointed at the possessed monster, panting. William sighed.

"Go ahead. Shoot me." William said holding his arms out.

"Hey Einstein what do we do?" Odd whispered through his teeth.

"We could just run." Jeremy said the first thing to come to mind.

"What? Run? Run where?"

"All we have to do is get Ulrich to the way tower. The rest of us can de-virtualize ourselves we don't need a way tower for that."

"But bringing Ulrich home after being here so long could kil-"

"Odd. He can't stay here either. What would you rather? Ulrich becoming X.A.N.A's vessel and fighting him every time we came back to Lyoko or him going back home even though there's a _small_ chance he could die?"

"I told Ulrich I'd defeat X.A.N.A and stay here with him. I plan on keeping my promise."

"Odd-"

"Jeremy let's just defeat this smokey bastard alright?"

"You two done over there?" William cut in. He put down his swords again and placed his hand on his hips, waiting to be shot. Odd suddenly had an idea. It was a terrible idea, but an idea was better than no idea. He lowered his arm and walked towards William.

"Odd!" Jeremy said, face completely confused.

"What're you doing?" William said, also confused by Odd's actions.

"I want to know something."

**(A/N) Yes I know this one isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but I thought it'd be best to end it there. So what do you think Odd wants to know? A new chapter will be uploaded tomorrow. Look forward to it and review please. :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter Twenty Three - The Odd Feline Never Gives Up**

"…What?" William kept his guard up; he knew the Cat was up to something.

"Does X.A.N.A realize how strong a vessel William is? Why is it he needs a new one when he already has William?" Jeremy wasn't the only one surprised by Odd's question. William was completely speechless.

"That…that's what you wanted to know?" William said suddenly bursting into laughter. The sudden outburst didn't phase Odd in the least.

"Ha…I'm not as strong as you think Odd." William confessed. For a second Odd could've sworn he heard the _real_ William when he said his name.

"Believe it or not…but you're actually stronger than I am. If it wasn't for this bug X.A.N.A created I would've vanished long ago."

"But you're still a strong vessel. Aren't you enou-"

"Take a look at this Della Robbia." William interrupted, lifting his shirt up. Odd's face went blank and he knew Jeremy shared the same expressionless look.

"_This_ is why X.A.N.A needs a new, stronger, vessel." William's entire chest was a faded gray color, almost like stone.

"Wh…" Odd couldn't even ask.

"I've been a vessel for a long time and taking a part of X.A.N.A in your body is the same as accepting a curse. This…William's body can't last much longer." William took a breath.

"That's why I NEED ULRICH!" William screamed grabbing both swords, in one hand, and launching his body at Odd. The Cat was still shocked at the condition of William's body that he didn't retreat in time. Instead he pulled both arms in front of his face, not realizing William's fist going for the wound under his ribs. William threw his fist into Odd's wound, pushing the tip of Ulrich's sword deeper into the Cat's body.

"AH!" Odd screamed as his body was thrown back.

"ODD!" Jeremy yelled shooting at William, failing to stop William's attacks. William stepped over the bleeding feline and walked towards his next target, Jeremy. Suddenly appearing behind Jeremy, he put his mouth to his ear.

"Prepare yourself." William evilly whispered. The monster's words made every muscle freeze inside Jeremy's body. William laughed as he plunged Ulrich's sword into Jeremy's stomach.

"Guh." Jeremy gasped, falling to the ground.

"Jer…emie." Odd said barely audible. He tried to crawl back to the cave to warn the others.

_Ulrich…_

* * *

"Whose next I wonder?" William grinned to himself. He turned back to the entrance of the cave stopping in his tracks as a certain purple cat blocked his path once again. William had had enough of this.

"You…can't have h…im William." Odd said standing on wobbly feet, gripping his, now, deeper wound.

"What makes you think that you can keep me _from_ him?" William, clearly irritated, walked towards the unthreatening purple feline. Odd could see this ending bad; he turned and saw Ulrich walking towards him, half carrying an unconscious Aelita.

_Dammit! _He cursed to himself.

"U-Ulrich! Get Aelita out of here! Go to the way-" Odd collapsed to his hands and knees coughing up blood. Ulrich quickly sat Aelita down and ran to Odd.

"Odd! What wrong? Where's Jeremy?" Ulrich questioned holding Odd's shoulders, keeping him from falling on his stomach.

"Ah! There you are Ulrich. I was wondering when you'd come out to play." William teased, readying his two swords.

"Odd where's Jeremy?"

"T…there." Odd choked out, pointing at a figure on the ground covered in blood. Ulrich's heart fell to his stomach. Jeremy and Aelita were out, Odd was next, and Yumi was captured.

They were losing…this was it.

* * *

"Fine. Come get me, you dick." Ulrich spat his words of hatred and stepped in front of Odd's bleeding form.

"Ul…rich you can't fight. You're hu…rt." Odd said pulling on his hand. Ulrich smiled down at his love and grabbed his hand.

"I'm the only one able to fight Odd and I can fight even without a weapon. I'll be fine." Ulrich kissed the top of Odd's head and smiled. Odd could see right through that fake smile. There had to be something he could do to help Ulrich.

"W…wait." Odd gasped grabbing Ulrich's hand again. He lifted his shirt exposing the bleeding wound.

"Odd what are you-"

Odd dug his fingers into the wound, cursing through his teeth.

"ODD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Ulrich said kneeling down next to Odd, pulling at his hand to stop.

"Wait..." Odd dug deeper until he felt the sharp object. He pinched the piece of steel as hard as he could and ripped it from his body, blood flowing quickly after it. Odd then grabbed his tail, knowing it wouldn't help much, and tied it tightly around his wound. His breathing was labored as he handed Ulrich the tip of his sword.

"Here's your...sword or what's left…of it." Odd joked, placing the tip in Ulrich's hand. Ulrich's face was shocked and somewhat disturbed.

"That…was in your body in whole time!?" Ulrich exclaimed, clutching the blade. Odd nodded.

"At least…you have a weapon…now." Odd sighed.

"Odd…"

"I'll be up in…a minute…to help…you."

"No Odd-"

"Shut up Ulrich. Just…give me a minute to…rest." Ulrich nodded and stood to face the only thing standing between them and home. They heard shuffling towards the entrance of the cave and saw Aelita struggling to crawl out, only to be frozen in place, her eyes landing on Jeremy.

"Jer-" She gasped, the breath caught in her throat. Her eyes darted to a fallen Odd then to the remaining warrior defending them still.

"Ul…rich is he-"

"No. Jeremy's still alive Aelita. He'll be okay." Ulrich reassured.

Aelita nodded and crawled to help Odd. Ulrich turned back to the enemy.

"Come." Ulrich commanded the monster.

* * *

William held both swords out by his sides and slowly walked towards his goal. The air around him stopped and the ground shook beneath him. Ulrich's stance changed to support the new weapon. He knew that this attack _had_ to count. It _had_ to do something! He gripped the blade in his hand, the sides cutting into his skin, blood running down his arm. Ulrich closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With the opening of his eyes, he leapt towards William. The warrior pulled his small blade back and threw his unarmed fist towards William's head. With his swords out, William wasn't able to block; the hit striking him across the face. Leaning back, William pulled the smaller of his blades up; bringing it towards Ulrich's body. Ulrich turned, barely being able to stop the sword with his own. Before he could counterattack, William stabbed the ground with his bigger sword and spun around the blade, kneeling behind it to shield himself.

"Why are you hiding if my attacks don't hurt you?" Ulrich said in a quick breath, never breaking his guarding stance.

"I'm just keeping it fair Ulrich. If all I did was stand there taking your attacks...that wouldn't be much fun." William grinned.

"Fun?" Ulrich spat.

"Yes. I think this fight will soon be coming to an end. We've both been fighting way too long." William's grin grew as he took only Ulrich's sword in his hand and held the same stance as his opponent. Ulrich was losing this fight…he knew it and yet-

"Ulrich. You might want to keep your attention on the current battle." William suggested.

Ulrich looked back at Odd, barely sitting up. When Odd met his eyes something lit up in his face. Ulrich couldn't place the name for what is was…only he didn't like that look. Brushing it off, Ulrich turned back to William and, again, ran for battle. William let out an eager laugh before running straight at Ulrich. They collided at the middle, face to face, meeting each other's blades. William took Ulrich's wrist and easily slid the small blade from his uninjured form. Dropping the blade to the ground, Ulrich gasped for air as his own sword had pierced his stomach for the second time. He looked down at the blood dripping from his blade then felt a hand under his chin. It pulled his head up until he locked eyes with William. The hand under his chin wrapped around his neck.

"Ulrich!" Aelita shrieked and looked to Odd, realizing he disappeared.

"This is it Ulrich Stern. I've won." William said, calmly holding back his victory grin followed by the hysterical laughter. He pulled the sword from Ulrich's body and let it fall to the ground. The battlefield fell silent; all that could be heard was the clang of steel hitting the crimson ground.

"F…fine. You won. T…take me…and leave…them alone." Ulrich had to see that his friends survived. If they lived beyond today, there was a chance they could free him from X.A.N.A's grasp.

"Sorry, if I let them live they'll return to retrieve you. X.A.N.A really doesn't want them coming back to take what's his." William said with a tired sigh, snapping his fingers. The sphere holding Yumi captive appeared next to Jeremy, suddenly the sphere popped; freeing Yumi.

"You can't kill…them."

"You can't stop me from killing them."

"P…lease Will…iam don't kill our friends." Ulrich pleaded with the part of the monster in which a part of his friend still remained. The hand tightened its hold on Ulrich's neck as it pulled their faces closer, noses just inches apart.

"Don't try to win him over. William is mine." William's body engulfed in smoke and his eyes began glowing red. Ulrich choked on the breath that struggled to enter his lungs.

"X.A.N.A…?" Ulrich gasped. X.A.N.A slowly nodded, a small smile forming.

"You're mine." X.A.N.A gripped Ulrich's mouth, forcing it open. A slithering, snake like, form made of smoke came from his own mouth and made its way towards Ulrich's. Ulrich was frozen by fear. He'd seen many different ways X.A.N.A would possess people, but _this_ was too much; he couldn't watch. As soon as he felt the smokey form touch his lips, it vanished. Ulrich slowly opened his eyes to see X.A.N.A's face twisted not just in shock, there was something else. Pain? He looked X.A.N.A over, stopping at the five huge wholes in his vessel's body.

"Ugh!" X.A.N.A's entire body phased in and out. He released Ulrich, and fell back.

"Wh…what?" Ulrich whispered, collapsing to his knees, eyes scanning the entire sector, every mountain.

"Ulrich!" Aelita screamed, getting his attention. Her arm flew into the air pointing to the mountain that once held Yumi's sphere. Their mouths hung open as they all stared at the being standing atop the mountain. Ulrich broke his eyes away from the being to glance back at Aelita and he wasn't surprised when he didn't see Odd lying next to her.

"Damn…" Ulrich balked.

**(A/N) AH! I know its not very long, but it no longer matters because...TOMORROW IS THE LAST CHAPTER! WOOOO! :) Anyways where has Odd gone this time? Has he saved the day again? Find out in the next chapter tomorrow. Enjoy & Review, my readers! **


	24. Chapter 24

**Five Minutes**

**Chapter 24 - _Don't _Say Goodbye**

Odd stood arms out, at the peak of the mountain; full body and weapon changed.

"He activated his _entire_ upgrade." Aelita gapped at the powerful feline. Ulrich gasped and looked back and forth from Aelita and Odd. Not wanting to believe he'd do such a stupid thing, Ulrich shook his head and stumbled closer to the mountain.

"ODD!" Ulrich yelled out, hoping the Cat would come down. Odd responded by holding his arms/cannons in the air and _jumping_ down to the ground. He landed with a crash that shook the virtual earth for miles. Climbing out of the crater, he'd just created; Odd held his arms back up at X.A.N.A. Ulrich was shocked by his change of appearance.

_Guess the upgrade doesn't only change your weapons. Thinking back to Yumi's upgrade guess I should've realized that sooner. _Ulrich thought to himself. He felt a lustful grin appearing; he liked Odd's new look. Realizing his creeping grin, embarrassed, he quickly erased it.

Odd's entire uniform had been changed to a darker shade of purple, the yellow and pink on his uniform had been changed to black. The picture of Kiwi in the center of his chest had changed to an angered cat eye. The ears on his head had grown larger and had a more sharp point at the tip. His tail had also grown in shape and thickness, simulating more of a tiger's tail. The marks on his face had been replaced by three lines on each cheek. Instead of going horizontal like whiskers, they were vertical; going down his face and combining at his neck; turning it black. The whites of his eyes had turned black, his eyes changed to the same shade of purple that went over his body, and at the center was a black diamond shape. His weapon changed considerably in size and in power. His hands, once only holding a cannon in each, now had five cannons attached to both arms. The cannons looked like the arms, themselves, rather than his weapon.

_The only thing that had little change was his hair, it only looks messier._ Ulrich pointed out, analyzing his lovely Cat's changed body. Stopping his thoughts before they made him pounce on the Cat, he sat back on his knees and clung to the hole in his stomach.

* * *

"A-are you an idi…ot Della Robbia?" X.A.N.A stuttered out, either from fear or pain. Odd couldn't tell. To answer his question, Odd walked towards X.A.N.A's fallen body until his cannon touched his cheek. He let an arm fall so he could see X.A.N.A's fearful face before he obliterated it.

"You really h…ate me. You w…ant me out of your way…so you can re…turn home. Is that right?"

"I doubt you have to ask." Odd said with a blank face. His voice deep and deadly.

"This little charade of yours may have cost y…you your life. Do you realize t…hat?" X.A.N.A challenged.

"Just being here has cost me a lot. What makes activating my upgrade any different? Living or dying…it doesn't matter anymore. All I care about now is keeping him-" Odd gestured to Ulrich.

"- from you." Odd's entire arm lit up. His cannons getting ready to fire.

"Why…don't you just g…ive in Odd? I will let you…all live if you just h…and him over." X.A.N.A persuaded. Ulrich wanted to agree to those terms and almost spoke up, but before he got even a breath out, Odd lowered both arms and knelt down in front of X.A.N.A. Face to face, he could feel the monster's ragged breath brush against his cheeks. Odd let out a breath and shot a deep glare that could kill, at X.A.N.A's sweating face.

"Before I give him up again, you will see me die."

"Odd…" Ulrich said in a shallow breath.

Odd jumped back far enough to point both arms straight at X.A.N.A's face and resumed readying the attack.

_Finally this will end. Right here. Powering up complete in five minutes. Then I'll be able to kill him… _Odd looked back at Ulrich and gave him a small smile that clearly said…"Its okay, Ulrich. It's almost over." Ulrich just nodded as Odd returned his attention to the trembling abomination.

"Might as well ask you if you have any last words. That's usually how all this works." Odd said without the slightest chuckle.

"Ok…ay then. Have you ever killed any…one Odd?" X.A.N.A continued to play with the Cat's mind. Odd remained silent. He's never thought shooting a X.A.N.A vessel would be the same as murder. Never gave any of it a single thought.

"No response eh? How a…bout the fact that you all once called this vessel your friend? You're all so concerned about me tak…ing your friend Ul…rich, that you never once tried to rescue the one I already had. Why's that?" Not even Ulrich could answer that one, but even so X.A.N.A was wrong about one thing.

"W-we have tried to save him before! It was harder to rescue him _because_ he was your only vessel. You protected him from us even while we fought against him; you were always near by just in case you had to jump in to save him." Ulrich explained, blood streaming down his chin. He began to fall back, but Aelita crawled behind him and held him up.

"He's _still_ our friend and we _still_ plan on taking William back. That will never change." Aelita added.

"If you want him back, then you can't allow this demonic feline to shoot me."

"Don't play with us. The bug doesn't work on you X.A.N.A it wouldn't kill you, it'll just mess your programming up quite a bit." Aelita explained.

"Who the hell cares what it does to you! I just want you GONE!" Odd dug his heels into the ground and the ten cannons went off like an explosion, directed straight at X.A.N.A.

"I'm not staying in this form to be blown away by _that_. Hopefully they can handle it." X.A.N.A smoked out of William's body, leaving behind the little part of him that remained inside William.

"William!?" Aelita yelled, squeezing Ulrich's shoulders. He grimaced at the pain and gripped one of her hands.

"It's not him Aelita. X.A.N.A left, but he's still possessed."

"Dammit!" Odd screamed at the sky.

* * *

The cannon blast shot right through William's body, just like the first attack had gone through his heart. He fell back like a defeated piece of Swiss cheese. Not a single drop of blood left his body, but smoke started to leak from every hole made on his body. Ulrich shook Aelita off and dragged his body until he hovered above William. William's eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. Ulrich went to grab his hand-

"Ulrich-" Odd started.

"Stop!" Ulrich said, louder than he meant it to be, and took William's cold hand in his. Odd lowered his arms and walked until he, too, hovered above William.

"William?" Ulrich whispered. William opened his eyes to slits and scanned the two looking down at him.

"It's not William, Ulrich." Odd said in a sad tone.

"He's coming though." Ulrich said pointing at the smoke leaving his body like a demon being exorcised.

"That's the part of X.A.N.A that was inside him!?" Odd exclaimed. Ulrich nodded.

"That can't leave his body! If he's not possessed the bug will-"

"Odd." Ulrich, trying to hold back sobs, struggled with his words. He held his injured hand out and gestured Odd to come closer. Without wanting to deactivate his upgrade, Odd swung his arms/cannons back behind him and knelt down. He stayed behind Ulrich and placed his chin on Ulrich's shoulder, cheeks brushing against each other. Ulrich wrapped his arm around the back of Odd's head, holding it to his shoulder.

"Your cheeks wet." Odd bluntly pointed out. Ulrich's only response was a sniffle followed by a nod, as if apologizing.

"H-he's going to d-die. Isn't he O-Odd?" Ulrich struggled with every sentence.

"No Ulrich. X.A.N.A wouldn't let his only vessel die just like that."

"Y…ou're both idiots." William said in a quick breath.

"William!?" They yelled in shocked which earned a gasp from Aelita.

"Are you actually William?" Odd asked, wishing he had a finger to poke him with.

"Does this an…swer your ques…tion Odd?" William pointed down at the holes in his flesh and blood covered each one and pooled around him.

"Oh. Dammit!" Odd cursed biting his lip until the bled.

"I hope you're wrong though O…dd."

"We'll s-save you." Odd said not convinced by his own words.

"W-William. I'm sorry." Ulrich choked out. William lightly squeezed Ulrich's hand and moved his other hand to wipe away a tear falling down Ulrich's cheek.

"I think I've do…ne m…more to you guys. I should be a…apolo…gizing. Can I a…ask a favor from you two?" Confused, the two boys slowly nod.

"Odd. I-I want you to shoot me be…fore X.A.N.A possesses me again."

Odd stood to his feet and fought the urge to cry. This hurt. All of this hurt. He knew he couldn't do it when it was actually killing his friend.

"You g…guys won't be able to save me f…rom X.A.N.A and if I go home…I could d…ie. I heard what you said…about Ul…rich's c…condition. He's the same, but I've been h…ere much lon…ger than any of you. I don't want him to t…take me back. I can't f…fight against my f…friends again."

"I-I can't-"

"Please Odd." William begged and Odd's trembling body nodded. William looked up at Ulrich and stared deep into his eyes like he was searching for the slightest glimmer of hope. He caressed Ulrich's tear stained cheek down to his chin, his thumb ghosting over his bottom lip.

"Please." William let go of Ulrich's hand and put it behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. Keeping his thumb on Ulrich's bottom lip, he pried his mouth open and slid his tongue in. Odd just stared dumbfounded, he **never** saw that coming. Then his body enraged with anger and fought against every thought and every muscle in his body that wanted to kick his dying friend's ass for kissing his Ulrich. It seemed like hours, for Odd, until they finally parted lips. Ulrich, just as shocked by the kiss as Odd, kept his eyes on William's satisfied face.

"T-thank you Ul…rich. I've al…ways wanted…" William went limp in Ulrich's hands and his eyes slowly closed, unable to fight the pull of sleep. Odd deactivated his upgrade and fell to the ground, his whole body shaking and aching from the intense strain from the power up.

"Odd! Are you okay?" Ulrich called back. Odd gave him a thumb up before he began coughing up blood. Waiting for the blood to stop, he crawled to William's body. Once he made it to his friend's side he took his finger, curled it into his thumb, and flicked him in the nose.

"Damn i…idiot. That's what you get for kiss…ing my boy…friend." Odd said with a playfully evil smirk.

"Boyfriend? I don't think we ever made it official." Ulrich stated.

"I know. Just say…ing. No one kiss…es you, but me." Odd said bringing his thumb to his chest. Making sure he made his point, Odd grabbed Ulrich's collar and pulls until their lips meet. Even though it was quick, Ulrich could _feel_ the difference between Odd's and William's kisses. Odd's kiss was warm and felt comfortingly familiar, even though it did have a warm iron taste of blood.

* * *

"Odd?" Ulrich said pulling on Odd to lean against him. Odd didn't fight it; mainly because he could barely move enough to fight it.

"Yeah?"

"We need to get everyone back to the cave so Aelita can close our injuries."

"Him too." Ulrich said pointing at William.

"Okay and how do you suggest we do that?"

"I can help." Aelita cut in; leaning against the mouth of the cave.

Ulrich nodded and pushed himself off the ground, hand over his stomach, and hand out for Odd.

"Are you alright to p-pull me up?" Odd said, his body shaking. Ulrich didn't say anything and shook his hand again at Odd to take it. At first Ulrich struggled to pull Odd up, but he knew he'd have to carry William, Yumi, and possibly Jeremy back to the cave. He let go of his bleeding gut and grabbed Odd with both hands, pulled him to his feet, then half carried him to the cave.

* * *

"Ul…rich you can let go now." Odd said noticing how labored Ulrich's breathing was. Suddenly Ulrich collapsed as he let Odd down.

"Ulrich! Are you okay?" Odd placed a bloody hand on Ulrich's shaking back.

"I-I'm okay Odd. Just catching my b-breath." Ulrich grabbed the cave's wall and pulled himself to his feet and staggered back to get William. He looked over at Jeremy and saw Aelita already burning his wound closed. Ulrich was relieved that Jeremy was passed out during that pain.

"You need h…elp with Jeremy?" Ulrich called over. Aelita shook her head, knowing Ulrich was too weak to do both boys himself. She grabbed Jeremy's arm and wrapped it around her neck and pulled him up, then half dragged him to the cave. Ulrich did the same with William and Yumi. With everyone back inside the cave, Aelita got to work closing all the bleeding injuries. Yumi's only injury was to her back, she had been shot from behind by a laser…same as Aelita. Jeremy and Yumi were lined up, side by side, in the back of the cave. William stayed close to Odd just in case something happened…he could act fast.

"Why are we still here?" Aelita asked while burning Odd's stab wound closed. He squeezed Ulrich's hand and held back the screams.

"W-what do you mean?" Ulrich asked, grimacing at the pain in his hand.

"We're all here. _All_ of us. Even William. So we should be heading towards a way tower to get back home."

"But-"

"Ulrich I know there's a chance that you and William wouldn't make it, but you can't stay here. You and Odd can't stay here." Aelita said glancing between the boys. She moved to close Ulrich's wound.

"So what should we do?" Ulrich asked, dropping the previous subject. Odd huffed at him changing the subject and squeezed Ulrich's hand harder.

"Somehow we need to get to the nearest way tower while each of us carries one of them." Aelita pointed at the three unconscious warriors.

"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go." Ulrich said standing, pulling Odd up with him.

"Are you guys okay to walk while carrying someone?" Aelita asked. She felt too tired to do it now, but if they were ready she'd go anyways.

"I'm good." Ulrich said. Angry, Odd ripped his hand from Ulrich's and pushed him against the caves stone wall.

"What it is Odd?" Ulrich said, keeping calm.

"What the hell!? You're not good! You can't carry anyone Ulrich. If I didn't help myself up just then you wouldn't have been able to yank me up. We're not leaving yet. Maybe we should wake Yumi and Jeremy up at least. Then we wouldn't have to carry anyone…except William." Odd let out a breath and looked between Aelita and Ulrich.

"Okay?" He huffed. They both nodded and moved to try and wake their friends up. Ulrich shook Yumi until her eyes began to flutter open. He put a hand to her forehead and smiled.

"Glad you're alright Yumi."

"U-Ulrich?" Yumi gasped wrapping her arms around Ulrich's neck, pulling him down on top of her. Odd's face went blank and sat down next to them. Clearing his throat…

"Glad we're _all_ together again. Right Yumi!" Odd pulled the two apart and sent a glare towards Yumi. She sent the glare straight back with an evil smirk attached.

"Can you stand?" Ulrich asked, ignoring what just happened. Yumi remained silent and stood.

"Guess so." Ulrich said to himself. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi walked back towards Aelita and saw Jeremy had also woken up.

"Jeremy's here?" Yumi asked.

"Hey Einstein! You're alive!" Odd cheered flashing a huge grin.

"Y-yeah I'm starting to miss the comfort of the computer lab." Jeremy joked as he was pulled to his feet by Aelita and Odd.

"Okay we're all up. So who's carrying him?" Odd asked gesturing at William. Yumi and Jeremy gasped.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Yumi yelled.

"What happened while I was out?" Jeremy said scratching his head.

"He's William. X.A.N.A left his body." Ulrich explained.

"How can you be sure?" Jeremy questioned.

Ulrich pointed to the blood surrounding William's body from his earlier bleeding wounds.

"X.A.N.A's minions don't bleed." Aelita pointed out.

"So who's carrying him? Rock paper scissors?" Odd jokingly suggested.

* * *

The cave suddenly started filling with smoke. Alert, the warriors readied their weapons and turned back to back, around William's body.

"GET WILLIAM!" Jeremy yelled, looking at Odd and Ulrich.

"But-" Ulrich started.

"JUST RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Jeremy interrupted.

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOU GUYS HERE!" Odd yelled back, without breaking his fighting stance.

"ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU GET ULRICH AND WILLIAM TO THE WAY TOWER. WE CAN DE-VIRTUALIZE OURSELVES. JUST GO ODD!" Aelita added in, activating her wings.

Odd and Ulrich looked at each other than they both grabbed one of William's arms and made their way towards the mouth of the cave; dragging him. Odd was struggling to carry someone a lot taller than him; he had to keep his head down to support William's arm.

* * *

Once they had made their first steps out of the cave, Ulrich stopped dead in his tracks.

"O-Odd…" Ulrich stood wide eyed and completely frozen in fear.

"What?" Odd turned his head to look at Ulrich.

"Ulrich? What is it?" Ulrich continued to stare so Odd turned to look at what made him so terrified. Odd's eyes grew wide too as he felt all the blood in his body run cold.

"W-what the h-hell is t-that?" Odd choked on every word that he pushed from his throat. Ulrich's response was barely a shrug. He couldn't even speak at this point. He knew X.A.N.A had to be getting desperate, but _this_ was ridiculous. Odd quickly turned back to warn the others still in the smoke filled cave. He locked eyes with Aelita and she quickly noticed what made Odd's face twist in worry. A huge ball of smoke, that held X.A.N.A's red glowing symbol at the center, was hurling towards the cave.

"Jeremy!" Aelita screamed pointing at the incoming danger. Jeremy and Yumi both froze like statues.

"WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Ulrich called back at his friends. They snapped out of there trance and began running towards Ulrich and Odd. Odd looked over at Ulrich. His face held such fear it made Ulrich want to sit down and cry, but he knew he had to stay strong. By the time their friends had made it half way to them, Ulrich and Odd had turned back towards the threat, unbeknownst to them, it was already at their door, they were face to face with the blob of smoke.

* * *

The warriors were forcibly pushed back inside the cave, bodies colliding, wounds reopening. Odd sat right back up as soon as he hit the ground. He immediately scanned the cave for Ulrich and his friends, but because of the smoke he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face.

"ULRICH?" Odd yelled, standing with his hands out in front of him. He stopped when his hands touched someone. He hesitantly felt around the person and realized it was someone's chest.

"Ulrich? Is that you?" Odd felt his body shaking. He didn't know why, but he felt fear enter his body when he continued to touch body in front of him. It felt cold.

"U-Ulrich?" Odd stuttered through his whisper. He slowly moved closer to try and see the person's face. He got close enough to feel their breath on his face. It felt wrong. Evil.

_This isn't Ulrich. _

As soon as that thought left Odd's head, the person in front of him opened their eyes and exposed a glowing red X.A.N.A symbol. Odd's heart dropped and he jumped back like someone had just shot him.

"X.A.N.A!?" Odd yelled in shock. X.A.N.A walked towards him very casually; he knew Odd couldn't touch him. X.A.N.A had enough of chasing after what was already his. Odd continued to step back as X.A.N.A came towards him; he soon realized he was now outside the cave. As soon as X.A.N.A stepped from the smoke filled cave, Odd saw that he, again, had possessed William.

_Dammit! I'm so sorry William. _He cursed to himself.

"I'm done Odd Della Robbia. I've had it with all of _this_."

"T-this what?"

X.A.N.A's answer was clear when all he did was point at Odd.

"I'm done with you. I'm done fighting you. I'm done chasing you. I'm done allowing this senseless game to continue. Just face the inevitable and give me Ulrich."

Odd shook his head and raised his fists. X.A.N.A sighed.

"Now that I think about it, I don't really even need to ask. I can go into that cave right now-" X.A.N.A pointed towards the smokey cave.

"- and take my prize. It's not like you can stop me anyways. So we're done here." X.A.N.A ended the conversation by turning on his heels and heading back into the cave. Odd panicked and before he could come up with any kind of a plan, he found himself jumping onto X.A.N.A's back.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HIM!" Odd yelled right into X.A.N.A's ear, tightening his grip around his neck. Surprised as X.A.N.A was by the choice of attack, he wasn't surprised that he _did _attack. He smiled and ripped Odd from his back, throwing him away from the cave. In pain now that his stomach wound had reopened, Odd staggered to get to his feet and took a deep inhale.

"ULRICH!" Odd screamed, his whole body shaking from the strain of the scream. He hasn't screamed like this since he saw Ulrich's body hit the ground from being dropped. It hurt, but he had to get Ulrich out of that cave. Panting, he collapsed to his knees with his arms at his sides, throat bruised from screaming.

* * *

He soon knew that his pain wasn't in vain as he heard shuffling coming from the cave. X.A.N.A smiled and turned towards the cave. Ulrich appeared gripping at his bleeding gut while carrying an unconscious Yumi. Aelita appeared right behind Ulrich half carrying a bleeding Jeremy. She slowly sat Jeremy down and leaned against his broken body.

Ulrich locked eyes with Odd. Odd smiled and nodded.

_Go._

Ulrich frowned and shook his head. Slowly he placed Yumi on the ground. He could feel the glare coming from Odd's enraged eyes. He didn't care. He wasn't leaving without him. X.A.N.A smirked at the bleeding, limping, pathetic warrior in front of him. X.A.N.A let out a laugh when Ulrich held up his fists, ready to fight.

"Wow. You two-" X.A.N.A pointed a finger at the boy in front and behind him.

"- just don't know when you've lost." X.A.N.A summoned his sword and rushed his enemy. Ulrich continuously dodged his relentless attacks. His vision began to blur, he quickly shook his head and X.A.N.A took the opportunity to strike. Hitting him with the back of his blade, Ulrich flew back towards the cave again; only missing Aelita, Jeremy, and Yumi by mere inches. X.A.N.A stabbed his sword into the ground a walked to Ulrich. Grabbing him up by his neck, he pulled him closer and put his lips to his ear lobe.

"You're mine." X.A.N.A pried Ulrich's mouth open and, like before, a slithering smokey form came from X.A.N.A's mouth and snaked its way towards Ulrich's. Aelita gasped and tried to stand, failing she then tried to summon an Energy Field, only to fail again. She saw the monster trying to possess her friend and all she could do was sit there and watch it happen. Aelita turned when she saw movement to her right. Odd was pushing himself to move. Any energy he had left he put into his legs, and ran at the back of the monster.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HIM!" He yelled again, grabbing onto X.A.N.A's back, spinning around throwing his body to the side. Ulrich was dropped to the ground out of breath; he looked up at Odd spinning around to place himself in front of Ulrich.

"O-Odd." Ulrich said, trying to catch his breath. Odd didn't answer…didn't look back. He kept his eyes on X.A.N.A's growing smirk.

"I was _really_ trying not to kill you Odd, but you…you-"

"X.A.N.A!" Odd cut in, straightening his stance. X.A.N.A crossed his arms, ready to listen.

"I'm not going to give up-" Odd paused and activated his entire upgrade a second time

"You should already know that so come at me like you mean it!" Odd yelled; throwing his arms back he ran at X.A.N.A.

"ODD!" Ulrich screamed after the Cat. Aelita stared at her purple friend with clear fear and worry in her eyes. She knew they'd barely survive the first time activating an upgrade, but a second time…

"Odd." She whispered, squeezing Jeremy's hand.

Completely shocked, X.A.N.A reached for his weapon just in time to come face to face with Odd's cannons. Odd didn't hesitate and fired all five cannons on one arms straight at X.A.N.A's face. X.A.N.A's body phased in and out, and then turned to smoke. He moved his smokey form behind the armed Cat. Odd expected this and threw a kick towards the smokey blob, barely missing X.A.N.A. X.A.N.A transformed back into William and threw his fist into Odd's stomach wound, jabbing the bleeding hole a second time. Odd gasped as blood flew from his mouth.

"ODD!"

Odd looked at Ulrich and saw the worry…the fear in his eyes. He quickly looked away and threw his glare back on as he continued to fight X.A.N.A. He wasn't going to fall. He wasn't going to break. X.A.N.A saw how much Odd's body was struggling to keep up all this fighting. He dropped his sword and placed his hands on the Cat's shoulders. Odd's face changed to confusion, but gasped as X.A.N.A slammed his forehead into Odd's, head butting him. Odd's hand clung to his forehead as he stumbled back, collapsing to one knee. As he tried to raise his other hand to aim his cannons at X.A.N.A, the monster grabbed his arm then threw his foot into Odd's face. X.A.N.A kept up the heartless attacks on Odd's face.

"STOP IT!" Ulrich hollered, trying to stand. X.A.N.A ceased his attack on the Cat's face, releasing Odd's arm. He watched the purple warrior fall to the ground then looked over at Ulrich.

"I'll stop if you come with me Ulrich." X.A.N.A held his hand out. Ulrich gulped and looked between X.A.N.A and Odd. Odd could barely hold his head up to shake his head "no" let alone tell him. Ulrich already knew what Odd would say, but he couldn't stand seeing his friends…his Odd being beaten to death by this monster. Ulrich held his hand out, X.A.N.A's smile grew to take up half his face.

* * *

The abomination only took two steps towards his prize before ten cannons fired off into his back, blowing him a good many feet past Ulrich. X.A.N.A landed, broken, at the edge of the digital sea. Smoke seeping from the virtual wounds, he raised his arm and more smoke formed in the air and into the wounds, closing them. His whole body shook as he turned to look over at the purple Cat and his prize. X.A.N.A's eyes darted back in forth between the two; a smile played on his lips.

"What the hell are you doing Odd!?" Ulrich yelled, running to help Odd stand.

"Me!? What the hell do you think you're d-doing Ulrich!? You were giving u-up!"

"If you knew what I was doing then why did you ask?"

Odd looked up at Ulrich and at the seriousness in his gaze. He would hit him if he didn't have cannons for arms.

"You really were going to give up?" Odd asked in a sad tone, but kept his face stern. Ulrich sighed also in a sad tone.

"I'm tired man. We're all beat. We can't win when there's such a great disadvantage between us and X.A.N.A. I can't stand to see him beat you without you getting so much of a scratch on the bastard."

Odd laughed at this.

"Why are you laughing Odd?" Ulrich said slightly hurt. Odd slowly lifted his arm/cannon and pointed it towards where X.A.N.A was still on the ground.

"He may not be scratched…he may not be b-bleeding, but I can hurt him enough to put him in that state. Now we should be r-running." Odd said his smile from before melting as he tried to stand. Ulrich nodded and helped Odd to his feet, which was quite difficult because his upgrade made him weigh a ton.

"Um O-Odd? Can't you deactivate your upgrade now?" Ulrich said struggling to get Odd up.

"I don't think I should." Odd said without looking at Ulrich.

"Why not?"

"Jeremy said that we should only activate our entire upgrade once and use it other times just in p-parts."

"Okay?"

"You don't r-remember? I used my entire upgrade once before. This is my second t-time. Deactivating it once hurt like hell so I don't know what it'll do to me this time and I may need it to fight off X.A.N.A again." Odd explained.

"You don't think it could kill you right?" Ulrich said trying to control the worry in his voice.

"I don't know."

* * *

Ulrich dropped the topic at that point. They had enough to worry about as it is. He used all his strength to get Odd to his feet and they made their way over to their three friends. Aelita was still the only one awake; her hands clung onto Jeremy's and Yumi's.

"Are you two okay?" She asked, holding back tears. The boys nodded.

"L-liars." Aelita whispered, dropping her head, letting the tears fall.

"We should get to the way tower while he can't move." Ulrich said, letting Odd go and picking Yumi up. Odd helped Aelita half carry Jeremy.

As they made their way around the side of the cave, the way tower was in their sights. They all released a sigh of relief.

"There it is! We're almost there!" Odd cheered, picking up the pace.

_Finally! Finally! I can get Ulrich home! _He smiled back to look at X.A.N.A's fallen body, but his smile faded and he froze in his steps. Aelita felt Odd stop and looked over at him.

"What is it Odd?" She asked. Ulrich looked back at them.

"X.A.N.A's g-gone." He gasped. Aelita looked at Ulrich…X.A.N.A suddenly appeared in front of Ulrich, the slithering smoke form already at Ulrich's face.

"ULRICH!" She screamed. Odd dropped Jeremy, deactivated his upgrade (to run faster), and ran at Ulrich.

"U-ULRICH DUCK!" He yelled. Blood gushing from his stomach wound and mouth, he forced every ounce of strength and willpower into one arm. Raising it, he shot off multiple laser arrows at the smokey form coming towards Ulrich. Ulrich turned out of the way just in time; dropping Yumi down behind a large rock. He stood in front of the rock, eyes hooked on Odd. He was bleeding so much and yet he could still move _and_ fight.

_For me…_ Ulrich's own thought was too quiet for him to barely make out the words.

* * *

X.A.N.A punched the Cat in the face forcing his body back. Odd's breathing was beyond strained; he could no longer stand. X.A.N.A grabbed him by his frail neck and lifted him off the ground.

"This isn't so bad. I had everything planned out differently, but if this is how it should be then…" X.A.N.A began walking back wards towards the digital sea, with Odd still in his grasp. Ulrich panicked and ran only to be stopped by X.A.N.A's sword smashing into his body, pinning him to a stone wall.

"AELITA! GET ODD!" He screamed. She forced her wings to appear and flew at the two on the edge. X.A.N.A saw her coming and pulled out Ulrich's sword. He threw it towards her; she easily dodged it without knowing it had been connected to X.A.N.A's smoke string. It whipped around and stabbed her in the back. She fell to the stone ground in a puddle of blood.

"O-Odd…" She gasped, pulling out the sword. She lit up an Energy Field and began burning her wound closed as fast as she could, but she knew she wouldn't be able to make it in time. Aelita hung her head and cursed at herself for failing a friend…again.

* * *

Ulrich's eyes frantically darted back and forth between his friends and the sword that pinned him.

"No…no…no! NO! ODD!" He yelled ripping his arm out from beneath the blade, cutting his entire arm; he gripped the hilt and tried to pry it off his body. Ulrich knew he had to get it off. He had to get Odd away from the edge of the digital sea! He had to get Odd away from X.A.N.A!

"ODD! I'M COMING!"

Odd's half lidded eyes locked with Ulrich's fearful gaze. He let his face form a small, fake, smile. Odd was done. He knew he wasn't able to fight anymore and he didn't know how he'd had been fighting for so long. X.A.N.A was going to kill him by throwing him into the digital sea. As if he read his mind, X.A.N.A laughed.

* * *

"Ulrich Stern."

Ulrich froze at hearing X.A.N.A speak his name.

"I've realized something. You _were_ the strongest amongst your friends…but people change and evolve through certain experiences when their minds are forced to push their bodies further. Odd was the weak one out of your group. He knew it, but we _all _know that isn't true anymore. Since the first time I said I wanted you to join me, he was the one trying his hardest to protect you and keep you from me. When you were stuck here alone and he was back home…he wanted to come back even before he had time to heal-"

"Is there a point to this?" Ulrich interrupted.

"Yes Ulrich. Ever since your life has been threatened…ever since _his_ life was threatened-"

"What do you mean his life?"

"Odd's life was threatened when your life was threatened. He then realized he loved you. And that…made him into this." X.A.N.A shook Odd's body like he was waving a flag.

"He is an amazing warrior willing to push his body to the absolute limit just to protect you. Now that he is such a warrior…"

Ulrich face twisted from confusion straight to fear as he continued to pull himself free.

"I knew you'd catch on." X.A.N.A smiled.

"W-what?" Odd breathed out.

"Well hate to say you aren't the brightest…" X.A.N.A sighed as Odd continued to look at him with confusion.

"Odd Della Robbia. I'm taking you as my prized vessel rather than Ulrich Stern."

"NO!" Ulrich screamed, his voice shaking the very ground, the echoes moved up the blade breaking the sword in half. X.A.N.A's face was one of pure shock.

"I'm impressed, but that won't make me change my mind. Sorry, but don't worry...I may come back for you. X.A.N.A grinned stepping closer to the edge.

* * *

"You're not taking him." Ulrich said pure rage in his voice.

"I'm sorry Ulrich, but it's over." X.A.N.A raised his free arm some smoke leaving his body and reshaped itself into a new sword. Suddenly it vanished. Ulrich quickly spun around only to see the blade coming right at him. He jumped into the air landing on the rock, Yumi was lying behind. He looked around searching for the sword. Suddenly it came from out of the rock he was sitting on. Ulrich wasn't able to dodge it in time and it stabbed him in the back, through his shoulder.

"AH!" He gasped and fell off the rock onto his stomach. The sword stabbing into the ground, again, pinning him. He growled at X.A.N.A's smirk. X.A.N.A gripped Odd's face and turned it towards Ulrich.

"Say goodbye now. You won't be seeing each other for quite some time." X.A.N.A laughed. Ulrich and Odd both refused to let the tears fall, not letting the other see how scared they were. X.A.N.A was one foot off, hovering over the digital sea.

"Say goodbye Odd. It's the only chance I'll give you."

Odd opened his mouth, his lip quivering.

"ODD DON'T SAY ANYTHING…IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAY GOODBYE! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! THIS IS NOT THE END FOR US! I _WILL_ BE BACK AND I _WILL_ COME BACK FOR **YOU**!" Ulrich yelled, tears flooding from his eyes. Odd nodded his tears also falling without much restraint. Aelita's body overflowed with sadness, she let her head fall to the ground.

Ulrich sniffled and looked over at Jeremy, still unconscious, then over to Yumi. He gasped. She was moving.

"Yumi!? You awake!?" He yelled.

"Wha…what happened?"

"No time! Save Odd! You can still move and fight right?"

She nodded.

"Then please…!" Ulrich begged.

She could almost feel the bile enter her throat when she saw the pleading, pathetic, look on Ulrich's face. Yumi shakily got to her feet and raised her fans for battle. She looked at X.A.N.A. He just smiled at her. She shook her head…as the conversation from before kept coming into her thoughts…

_"None of this would be happening if you would only return what's ours."_

_"Are you really trying to bargain with X.A.N.A? He wants…needs this vessel."_

_Yumi quickly looks over at Odd, still fighting the herd of enemies. Then back at William, regaining her fighting stance._

_"Unless you know of someone stronger?" William whispered so only Yumi could hear._

"_Really? You want me to answer that?"_

"_Yes. Do you think Odd Della Robbia is a better vessel for my master than Ulrich Stern?"_

"_What would happen if I said yes?"_

"_Naturally our target would change to the Cat."_

"…_and if I said no?"_

"_We would continue with what were doing now." _

"_So Ulrich would be of no use to you if you had a stronger vessel?" _

_William nods._

"_You'd leave him alone?"_

_William nods._

"_Even if we returned in the future you still wouldn't want anything to do with Ulrich?"_

"_Well everything would go back to normal. You'd come to collect data or to shut down an activated tower and we would again try to stop you like always. X.A.N.A now having a vessel, he then would join in the attack. Whether you fight against Ulrich or Odd is up to you."_

She cut off the thoughts that continued to shove themselves into her mind. Yumi looked at the growing grin on X.A.N.A's evil face then looked at Odd. His once, pleading, expression had turned to seriousness realization. He knew.

_I'm sorry…_ Yumi fell to the ground dropping her weapons. She let herself cry as she looked at Ulrich…she smiled, apologetically, then de-virtualized herself.

* * *

Ulrich's eyes widened as he looked at the fading Yumi then over to Odd. Odd had the look of pure and utter betrayal fogging his clear eyes. Ulrich's jaw dropped as everything moved in slow motion. He began to tear at the sword pinning him on his stomach to the ground; screaming at Yumi, screaming at X.A.N.A to let Odd go! There was nothing he could do. Yumi, their friend, had betrayed them. Ulrich placed his hand on the ground underneath his stomach and pushed up. The blade coming out of the ground, he jumped up, yanking the blade out, and ran towards X.A.N.A and Odd. X.A.N.A hung his head back and let out the most sinister evil laugh then crushed his lips to Odd's. Odd gasped out in shock as Ulrich stopped in his tracks. X.A.N.A pried Odd's mouth open as smoke left his mouth and entered Odd's.

"NO!" Ulrich snapped out of it just in time for X.A.N.A to part ways with Odd. William let Odd down and Odd held his hand up to Ulrich, making him stop again.

"Odd?"

"The name's X.A.N.A." Odd's face twisted in an evil grin as his eyes glowed a deep red color and held the X.A.N.A symbol at the center. Ulrich's heart dropped and shattered into a million pieces.

"This is the end. I've won." X.A.N.A said, gripping onto William's body and falling back into the digital sea. Ulrich ran, falling to his stomach, to the edge of the digital sea. He looked down and saw _his_ Odd vanish beneath the virtual waves. His tears fell uncontrollably from his eyes, now joining the water below.

Ulrich clenched his fists, knowing he had just _lost_ the one he loved. He wailed.

"**ODD!**"

**(A/N) That's it. The End. -until the sequel of course. Hope you enjoyed this! I'm so happy I finished it! Kinda sad too, but oh well new things to come with the sequel. Also sorry it was late. I got busy with my birthday stuff...and THANK YOU to silverwolf310 & emo-rocker101 for the awesome birthday wishes. REVIEW PLEASE!**

**** The sequel is re-titled "Five Years" and it's first chapter will be uploaded June 30th, 2013**** :) **


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